Potter The Stone
by CRose
Summary: Harry is the student of one of the best martial artists in the world. Ranma Saotome. Draco Malfoy is about to learn why its not a good idea to piss off a student of Anything Goes.
1. Chapter 1

Notes: Had this idea the other day after reading a Ranma/Harry Potter fic that just stopped and never went anywhere. It was a bit irritating and even now I'm not sure if any of them are even being written anymore. I thought I'd try my hand at the idea and came up with this prologue. Let me know what you think as I slowly detail the first book of the Harry Potter series. 

Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 01  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005

Harry Potter's life was rather strange. He seemed to have a kind of good luck/bad luck thing going on. Even he was sometimes caught by surprise when something odd happened to him. At eleven years old he would have sworn that the universe was conspiring to make his life 'interesting'.

It was bad enough that his parents were dead, or that his abusive aunt and uncle were even allowed to spend a year abusing him as a baby, or that he seemed to meet the most interesting people. People in black cloaks wearing masks, or had memories of a flying motorcycle. It was just one thing after another.

Like today. It wasn't like he was trying to look for trouble, it just happened to find him. Really, that was all there was to it. He was just minding his own business out on the play ground when that jerk Stevenson came up and just took a swing at him. For absolutely no reason, really.

He wasn't about to just stand there and let it happen. After all he had to protect himself from jerks like this. Anyway, it was fun. That was why he just rolled back and flipped right out of the swing, hopped back, and brought his hands up.

"What's up, Moron."

"Potter, I'm going to kill you!" The older boy yelled as he swept the swing aside and jumped at him. "Die!"

Smirking, Harry hopped into the air went right over the boy's back. Harry laughed as he landed, spun around, and swept the boy's legs out from under him. Stevenson crashed to the ground with a cry and landed hard enough to knock the breath out of his lungs.

"What was that, it was something about gasping for air?" Harry taunted.

"I'll…gasp…get…gasp gasp gasp…you, Potter." The boy said, gasping for air.

"You don't stand a chance Stevenson." Harry said, stepping out of the way of a weak punch. "Your so sloooooow."

"Bastard…I'll, GET YOU!"

"Not any time soon slow poke!" Harry said, bounced back, did spin kick and sat his foot on top of the boy's head. "Gotta move faster than a sloth!"

"AGHAAAA!"

Laughing, Harry rolled to the side, landing a light punch in the boy's ribs almost on instinct, and gave him a push, sending him tumbling to the ground. "What was that? You're off balance? I can see that, and slow too."

"POTTER!"

Harry turned his head to see a teacher heading their way looking angry. "Hello Mrs. Sopal."

"Don't take that tone with me! I saw the whole thing, look what you did to poor Stevenson. When will you learn to not fight." She muttered. "Detention!"

"Ah! He started it!" Harry yelled.

"Do you want me to call your father!" She yelled.

Harry almost snapped 'yes' he'd really like to see if she could contact a dead man, but thought better of it. "No ma'am."

"You're going to get it now Potter." Stevenson snickered from the ground nearby. The teacher pretended not to hear it as she grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him away.

"He attacked me first!" Harry tried to explain. "At least give him detention too!"

Mrs. Sopal ignored him as she dragged him off the playground. She really didn't want to listen to yet another excuse. This was the third fight in the last few days and she didn't know what to do with the boy. He always seemed to be in the thick of things.

Harry pouted a bit, then shrugged as they entered the school and headed for the home room. She let go of his arm as they entered and she pointed at a nearby desk. "Sit!"

Grumbling, he stomped over to the desk and plopped down. He folded his arms and glared at the desk. She rummaged in her desk, pulled out a note book and a really short pencil. These were placed on his desk a few seconds later. "Start writing lines. I will not pick fights! Two hundred times. Now!"

Sighing, Harry glanced at the window and considered running for it, but then remembered his adoptive father telling him to live up to his responsibility, even when he thought it was unjust. Gritting his teeth, Harry started to write. This wasn't the first time he'd had to do this and it wouldn't be the last. He let his mind wander a bit as he let his hand write out the line over and over again.

This was the fifth school he'd been to in the last 6 years and he was really hoping he wouldn't have to start at a new one anytime soon. He never got a chance to make friends these days. It was always, training, school, training, homework, more training, then bed. Only to do the same thing the next day. He really needed a break from all the morons attacking him.

Even his cousin Dudley wouldn't get near him these days. Not after Harry broke the bullying git's arm and punched him a few dozen times. That of course had gotten him kicked out of that school, not that mattered that much. The jerk deserved it.

Now Harry was just trying to get through a school day without fighting, but he just couldn't stand there and let people insult him. It felt wrong. About half an hour later he finished writing and sat the pencil stub down. "I'm finished."

Mrs. Sopal looked up from her desk. "Harry, you need to stop fighting like this, it could get you expelled from school."

"I only fight when someone attacks me." Harry countered.

"I don't care why you do it, you need to stop or you will be thrown out of this school. We don't tolerate fighting."

"I'll try."

She sighed, knowing a losing battle when she saw one. "Alright, you can head home now."

Harry nodded. Quickly gathering up his bag and his homework, he headed out of the room. Since he wasn't allowed to run until he got outside the school, he spent the next few minutes practicing different ways to walk. His adoptive father was always making him do things like this to practice. This way he could spread his practicing out over the whole day and always be in perfect form.

Once outside he started running, adjusting the way his feet touched the ground so that he was completely silent. It was a five mile run, something he did twice a day. Some days he just ran to and from school, on others he would practice certain moves, jumping over people, running on the fence top, or over cars. Whatever seemed like fun.

Of course he had to be careful, his father hadn't trained him up to a level where he could do anything he wanted. No matter how good Harry was at fighting. Today he didn't feel like doing anything, so he picked up his pace and tried to run the distance as fast as he could.

By the time he reached home he was covered in sweat. His house was at the outskirts of London and could be called more of a compound than a house. A wall ran around the property, nearly ten feet high, and made of stone blocks mortared into place.

Harry knew this because he was the one that built most of the wall when he was seven years old. His adoptive father called it good strength training, but Harry never quite got the training part. Just a sore back and muscles. The main door to the yard was made of an old wood, dark, and as hard as stone. His father had hung the massive two hundred pound door in about five minutes without using any kind of machine. Instead he did it with his bare hands.

To this day Harry was still impressed by the feet of strength and according to his father there were guys out there even stronger than he was. Harry didn't bother with the gate, instead he just jumped the wall and landed on top, crouching down.

There was no one in the back yard much to his relief, though he would still be careful, his father liked to ambush him when he let his guard down. Scanning the bushes and trees, Harry hopped down. He started to creep across the yard, moving from tree to tree until he ran out of cover several yards in.

Peeking around a tree, Harry scanned the back of the house, but everything looked calm and quiet. He stepped away from the tree and started running for the house, but a blur of movement on top of the house caught his attention. Something jumped into the air, nearly twenty feet above him, and started to throw colored balls.

Harry cursed, and dove out of the way as a barrage of water balloons started to land all around. Ducking and dodging, he weaved his way through the attack, his sixth sense warning him every time one of them got a little to close. The attacker landed, stopping for just a few seconds, his long pony tail flowing down his back.

"Gotta move better than that!"

"&$# you!" Harry yelled, sticking his tongue out. "Bleee!"

The attacker laughed and sent more water balloons flying, these were curving around as they flew through the air. Harry jumped back several feet and suddenly jumped to the side. Right as the man's arm flashed and sent balloon right into Harry's head.

Water exploded all around him. Cursing, Harry suddenly found himself being physically attacked and he was forced on the defensive. They worked their way across the yard, Harry dodging punches and kicks coming at him with lightning speed. He even managed to do a couple of one armed jumps to avoid balloons.

"Good dodging! Pay more attention, boy!"

A fist that was coming at his face suddenly dropped down below his guard and slammed into his stomach. He rolled with the blow, bit it was eno8ugh to send him staggering back, coughing loudly. The man smirked at him and stepped back. "That was pathetic, I've seen you do a lot better than that."

"Well Father, I just ran five straight miles and then had to fight you, what did you expect?"

"I expected you to fight back as I taught you. In a real battle if you let your guard down like that you would be dead."

Harry snorted.

"I see, you want to run back to school and back again before dinner?"

"Nononononononon!" Harry said and quickly took another stance. "We can continue."

"I think you want to run. You look like you want to run." He said, tapping his chin with a finger. "What to do, what to do…"

"We fight."

The man tilted his head to the side and gave him a 'I'm to innocent for words' look. The he grinned. "We fight, and you will fight back with everything you have."

"Yes sir."

The man attacked, this time using s completely different style of attack. Harry nearly sighed in relief, he really didn't want to run another ten miles today. They fought constantly for the next couple of hours, until Harry collapsed at the man's feet.

"Much better." The man said as he reached down to pick the kid up and lugged him into the house.

The house was a two and a half story house designed to house nearly ten people comfortably. It was a light brown with white trim and a perfectly manicured lawn. Off to the side was a large wooden deck that was used to practice their martial arts forms. Several training dummies were sitting at one end, a couple of lockers were next to the house along with an outdoor shower.

As the man was setting Harry down on a couch in the front room, an owl suddenly flew through an open window, circled the room, and suddenly dropped a letter on Harry's chest and flew away. The man watched as the bird flew away before he turned to see the letter. Written in green ink, was

Mr. H. Potter  
Front Room  
The Hidden House, London

The man picked up the letter and frowned at it for a second. It wasn't every day that a person received mail by way of an owl. He quickly ripped the envelope open and sat down to read through it. An ordinary man would have tossed the letter on the floor in an instant, but not this man, he'd seen to much over the years to scoff at what he read.

Folding the letter up, he walked over to a chair and sat down, his long black hair trailing down his back. His grey blue eyes gleamed as he considered the letter and what it could mean. Eventually he heard Harry stirring and watched as the kid sat up and looked around.

"Not bad, it only took you half an hour to recover from the fight. You're getting better."

"Just not good enough."

The man shrugged. "You're only eleven kid, give it a few more years and what we did today will seem like a warm up."

Harry snorted.

"No matter, this is for you."

Harry took the letter, noticed it was open, and glared at him. "You opened my mail?"

He smirked. "Of course, I thought someone strange was challenging you. An owl dropped it off."

"An owl."

"Yep."

"You don't expect me to believe that do you?"

"Of course. I'm your father."

"You adopted me." Harry challenged.

"Technicalities." He said and waved it off.

Harry glanced at the letter, pull it out of the envelope, and started to read.

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress

"Is this some kind of joke?" Harry asked. "Magic isn't real."

"I'm not sure. I've learned not to scoff at things like this. Over the years I've come across several things that would seem to give credence to the letter."

"Well yeah, but still, a school devoted to teaching magic? That seems kind of weird to me. And how the heck are we supposed to 'owl' them back?"

"Now that I'm not to sure about. I was thinking about how this school was going to keep me from training you properly."

"There is that as well. I say we ignore it and see what happens."

"Fair enough."

BANG BANG BANG!

**Notes**: There you have it, nothing to painful and a very different Harry, more confident, and willing to fight back when he needs to. Quite a bit more to come, send a review if you like it and I'd love suggestions and thoughts about the fic.

CRose  
shihanna at netzero dot com


	2. Chapter 2

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 02  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo 

Harry turned and looked through the window and towards the main gate. "That was the gate, right?"

"Yep, let's see who's come to visit." The man said as he rose to his feet. "What do you sense?"

"A lot of life energy, nothing bad either."

"I can tell you that whoever is out there isn't human. I've never sensed a Ki signature quite like this."

"Not human?" Harry gasped. "Is that even possible?"

"I'm not sure. Let's go and find out and remember to keep your wits about you."

"Yes sir."

BANG BANG BANG! "Let me in you Muggle!"

They headed over to the gate, Harry wondered what kind of man could have a voice like that. He pulled the gate open to see a very large man looking down at them. He was wearing a massive brown coat, had a full beard that nearly covered his entire face. Harry gapped at him.

Stepping forward, the giant man moved past the two of them and carefully shut the large gate. He smiled down at Harry. "An' here's Harry, it's been a long time since I seen yeh."

"Who are you?"

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds and Hogwarts." He said, a little twinkle in his eye. "Som' place we can sit and talk?"

"Sure, can he come inside?" Harry askedRanma.

Hagrid turned to look at the man standing behind him. "Who're you?"

The man smiled and bowed his head a little. "Ranma Saotome, Grand Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"Right oh, well that's nice." Hagrid said and turned back to Harry. "Last time I saw yeh you was just a little thing."

Harry blushed.

"I was sent to see if you received your letter and to see if you were ready to head to Hogwarts."

"I've never heard of any such place."

"What!" Hagrid yelled, sounding shocked.

"I've never heard of it before." Harry said.

"But…but…you don' know anything about 'our' world at all?"

"Sorry?"

Harry looked over at Ranma who just shrugged.

"You was never told what was in yer letter!"

"What letter?"

Hagrid sputtered for several seconds. "I was there, when Dumbledore left you and the letter wid your aunt and uncle…"

Harry's face turned red. "DON'T' EVER MENTION THOSE SCUM IN MY PRESENCE AGAIN!"

The giant nearly fell over in shock at the outburst. "But Harry…"

Ranma patted Hagrid's arm. "It's best you not mention 'them' again, they abused Harry, nearly starved him to death at one point."

Snarling, Harry stomped back towards the house as the two men followed him. Hagrid looked shocked at first, then he started to look angry enough to pound on someone, but his voice turned deathly calm. "They what?"

"Abused him, beatings, starving him, mental abuse, the whole gambit."

"I'll KILL THEM!" Hagrid yelled, his voice echoing over the property as he turned to leave.

"Don't you think you should finish telling Harry about the school first?"

Hagrid stopped in mid step, shook himself, and turned back around. "Yer right, o'course, nearly lost me head there."

"No problem. I'm also interested in this school of yours." Ranma said.

"Why?"

"I've got a Jusenkyo Curse. Had it for nearly ten years now and I'd really like to get rid of it. Your school sounds like a good place to begin."

"Never heard tell of a Juskyo Curse. Dumbledore may know though."

"Good. Let's head inside before Harry starts to punch holes in the walls." Ranma said with a little grin. He nearly took the guy for a Dojo Destroyer, but the guy didn't have the presence of a fighter, just a non human.

"Harry." Hagrid said as they entered the house. "I needs to explain som things to yer."

Harry was in the front room running through a beginners Kata burning off a bit of his anger, and feeling bad about his outburst. "Why did you bring 'them' up, I still have nightmares about them."

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't know about what happened. You were left wit them because they was the only family yer had left. I need to tell you, Harry, yer a…wizard."

Time seemed to stand still for a second as Harry stood there and clenched his fists. "I don't see how that is even possible. I barely believe what that letter says. Magic isn't real."

Ranma rolled his eyes. The boy was always way to stubborn than he needed to be. "Harry, you've seen my curse. That is magic."

The boy glanced over at him and nodded. "Yeah, but I still find it hard to believe."

"Harry, yer parents were a witch and a wizard as well, what else could you be, but a wizard?"

"And this school, is where my parents went to school?"

"Yeah." Hagrid said. "They were some the nicest people I ever knew."

"My aunt told me they died in a car crash…" Harry said.

"Car crash would never be enough to kill a witch and wizard like them!" Hagrid thundered. "I've got half a mind to go over to their place and thump them a time or two!"

"I was never allowed to ask questions. They never told me a thing…" Harry continued. "What else haven't they told me?"

"They never told yees? I never expected this to happen. Harry Potter not knowing his own story. James and Lily Potter…Harry, I'm not sure I'm the right person to tell you anything. I'm just a grounds keeper."

The giant seemed to shift emotions faster than he could think. Ranma almost found it funny, though he kept it to himself. He'd heard worse stories over the years. Being ignorant was easily fixed and he wanted to hear the rest of the story. "Hagrid, tell us, we need to know."

The giant man glanced over at him. "I don't know. It began with a man, a bad man…I can't say his name…he, killed yer mom and dad. He was a wizard and he went bad, completely evil, and…"

"What was his name?" Harry insisted.

"I don't like to says his name Harry, no one does, everyone is afraid of him even to this day." Hagrid said in a quiet voice. "…we call him You Know Who and He Who Must Not Be Named, things like that."

"That doesn't help me, what was his name?"

Hagrid shuddered fearfully. "…Vol-Voldmort, there I said, don't ask again."

Harry nodded, memorizing the name.

"Twenty or so years ago he started looking fer followers, most just wanted power, but others he forced to work for him by threatening their families. An evil, evil man out looken for power, dark power. Those were bad days, full of fear and terror. I don' like to think about them much, all that deth and horror. Abut the only place safe, anywhere, was Hogwarts, because it's protected from dark magic." Hagrid said, not looking at either of them.

"Now yer mom and dad was the head girl and boy while in school, some of the best. No one knows how, but He showed up at yer home one night, on Halloween and…and…" Hagrid suddenly pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose.

Harry, a little pale, thought back to his earliest memories. "That green light…"

The giant's head whipped around and stared at him. "You's remember it!"

"I remember a green light, and a flying motorcycle." Harry said. "I dream about them every now and then."

"Harry doesn't sleep very well because of his nightmares Hagrid. He gets them nearly every night, if they aren't about green lights, they're about something those bastard relatives did do him."

"I'm getting better." Harry said to Ranma.

"…anyway, You Know Who killed yer parents and tried to kill you too, that's where things get strange Harry. He shot the killen curse at you, but it failed. Its where you got that scar on your forehead. You survived, it made you famous, living after being hit with the deadliest cruse ever created. It made you the Boy Who Lived."

Harry frowned as one of his oldest memories surfaced, a flash of green light, and a high pitched evil laughter. "He laughed while he…killed them."

"Aye, he must have. No one ever lived after he decided to take care of them, no one, until you came along. The curse destroyed yer house, I took you from the wreckage on Dumbledore's orders and brought you to yer relatives place…"

Growling, Harry shrugged off his anger as best he could. Just mentioning his relatives was enough to set him off. These days he was getting over it though, it would just take time and Ranma allowed him to attack him and work off his anger when he needed to. "I see."

"What happened to Him?"

"No one knows exactly, he just vanished that night and no one has heard from him since. It be said that he isn't dead, just bidding his time until, but no one believes that. Most of us think he's still out there though, waiting for something. Something about you stopped him, it's just that no one knows what it was."

"I really don't think I can be one of these wizards, Hagrid. It just seems like you've made a mistake."

"Not a wizard? You wouldn't have received your letter if'n you weren't Harry. Haven't you ever done something strange that no one can figure out? Made things happen when yuse was angry or scared?"

Thinking back, Harry could remember a few things. Regrowing his hair after his aunt shaved all of it off except for his bangs, which she left long so it would cover his scar. Or the time he ended up on the school roof after fleeing from his cousin's gang. Then there was the time he shattered all the windows in Ranma's house after Ranma pushed him a little to far.

Hagrid was smiling at him. "See, I c'n see it in yer eyes. Not a wizazrd, you'll be famous at Hogwarts. Even more than you are now."

"What about all this stuff that Harry needs for school?" Ranma asked, speaking for the first time in nearly fifteen minutes, startling both of them.

"Thas right, we need ter get yer school supplies." Hagrid said, stroking his beard and grinning.

"We gots time, we can get them today if'n you want. Shouldn't take to long and I need ter head in dat direction anyways."

Ranma nodded slowly. "Alright, Harry go and grab your coat. So Hagrid how do you plan on getting there?"

"We'll take der Knight Bus." The giant said.

"Good, I'll grab my stuff too. I want to see this place and see what's going on."

"Sounds like a plan." The large man said, happy that Ranma was going to accompany Harry on his first trip into the magical world. He also made a note to himself to have a little talk with Dumbledore. Harry wasn't protected here, not like he was supposed to be at his relatives house, and yet he appeared to be safe.

Something weird was going on.

oooooooooo

"So Hagrid, how are we going to pay for all this stuff?" Harry asked as they stood outside the front gate. Harry was wearing a heavy duty coat, military quality, and a pair of boots instead of his usual shoes. Ranma was wearing his usual red silk shirt, loose black pants, and a pair of thin shoes. He looked a little bored standing there, but Harry knew that Ranma was actually using his enhanced senses to scan the environment.

"Yer don't think your parents didn't leave ya any money, did ya?" Hagrid asked.

"Well yeah, but even if they did the Dursley's would have taken it from me and never given it back." Harry said, scowling a bit.

"They left yous wizarding money, not Muggle money Harry. Those lumps couldn't even get their hands on it." Hagrid said with a large grin. "It's at Gringotts, the wizarding bank."

"Wizards have their own bank?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yep!"

Hagrid reached into his coat and pulled out a pink umbrella, winked at Harry, and held it into the air. With a deafening crack, the Knight bus appeared in front of them, and the door opened.

"Alright, get on, I'll pay for everyone's fare."

Ranma shook himself and stepped onto the bus after Harry. Hagrid quickly paid Stan the Driver. They took a seat, ignoring the odd people around them. Though Harry and Ranma noticed that none of them were wearing what they though were regular clothing. Instead they were all wearing robes and cloaks.

The insane ride took about half an hour as the bus seemed to take the most direct rout to their location. In this case, around all the cars, through buildings, and down back alleys. The buss seemed to change size to get past these obstacles and didn't hit a thing.

With another Bang, the bus came to a stop in front of a bar called the Leaky Cauldron. Several other people got off the bus along with them, most were giving Stan dirty looks, but he didn't seem to notice. Just gave them a smile, a wave, shut the door, and the bus vanished with a third loud Bang.

Harry wasn't sure what to think of the ride. He looked around and read the sign above them. "The Leaky Cauldron?"

"Yep, tis the main entrance to Diagon Alley." Hagrid said as he led them inside. Ranma brought up the rear, making sure they weren't followed. He had a feeling something was going to happen today, but couldn't figure out what it could be. He hoped Ryoga wasn't going to show up. They would level everything for blocks if that happened.

"Weird looking place." Ranma said.

Hagrid turned around and really looked at him. "Yus can see der bar?"

Ranma nodded. "Sure, though it's a little blurry in places."

"Muggles shouldn't be able to see the place."

Ranma shrugged. "I'm anything but normal."

"Yus still got yer letter Harry?" Hagrid asked as he turned to Harry.

Harry dug around in his pocket and pulled it out. "Yeah."

"That there is a list of everything you need for yer schoolin this year. Need that letter to even get some of the stuff."

"Oh, good thing I brought it."

"What's inside this pub?" Ranma asked? "We aren't going in here for a drink are we?"

"No, the Cauldron is just the gate way to Diagon Alley. Helps to keep the Alley hidden from normal folk, Muggles."

Ranma nodded and filed the information away. "Harry, be on your guard, I'm sensing something inside this place that I don't like."

"Like what?"

"Just something bad. Kind of like an impending fight, as if anything could set it off."

Hagrid shook his head. "Tom the owner of this place would never allow a fight to happen in his place."

Shrugging, Ranma held his hands up. "Just a feeling I'm getting. I've learned to trust my senses about things like this. Saved my life more than once."

"Got yus." Hagrid said as they reached the door and stepped inside the dimly lit tavern.

Ranma and Harry looked around the place and quickly spotted a couple of old women in one corner drinking something and sharing a pipe. A man wearing a top hat, and looking quite out of place, was talking to the barman as they came in. The barman seemed to know Hagrid on sight and waved.

oooooooooo

Notes: There we go, the second chapter is done and Hagrid is off balance, confused, and more than a little curious about Ranma. Hagrid had thought that any muggle that raised Harry would be rather ignorant and Ranma is proving to be something quite different.

What will happen next.


	3. Chapter 3

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 03  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

"You want the usual Hagrid?"

"No thanks, I'm on Hogwarts business." Hagrid said a little loudly, and without his heavy accent. He patted Harry on the shoulder and nearly drove the boy to his knees. Harry glared at Hagrid, but the giant didn't see to notice.

The old barman looked Harry over, wondering why Hagrid would bring a small boy with him. As his eyes looked Harry over, they stopped on his forehead, and widened in shock. "Oh my, is this…Harry Potter, this is an honor. It's a pleasure to meet you in person." Tom said, grinning madly.

The man grabbed Harry's hand and shook it while Harry stood there looking bewildered. Suddenly everyone in the bar was looking at him, Harry wasn't sure what to do and looked at Ranma, who shrugged. Harry had seen enough TV to know that he should at least be polite, so he tried to stay calm as he shook several peoples hands. He even recognized one from a few years back, just after Ranma had removed him from the Dursleys.

"We've met before, haven't we?" Harry asked one guy who looked like he was about to faint. "You bowed to me at the store…"

"Diggle, Dedalus Diggle, I'm honored you remember me from that one little meeting. He remembers me!" He cried excitedly.

Ranma had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Situations like this made life interesting and Harry would learn some things from this. The kid did seem to blunder into odd situations after all. Then a pale man wearing a turban and a cape walked up looking incredibly nervous, one eye was even twitching.

"Professor Quirrell!" Hagrid said. "Harry, his is Professor Quirrell, he'll be one of your teachers this year."

The man shook Hary's hand. "P-P-Potter, n-nice to m-meet you."

"What do you teach?"

"D-Defence against the D-Dark Ar-Arts."

Then the crowd rushed back in and shoved the timid professor to the side. Ranma looked away trying not to laugh at all these weird people. With one massive arm, Hagrid grabbed Harry and steered him towards a door in the back. "We have lots to buy today, so best be going."

One of the witches grabbed Harry's hand, he realized he'd shaken her hand about twelve times now, as they left. They made their way into a small court yard behind the pub and over to a brick wall. Hagrid pulled out his pink umbrella and started counting bricks.

"Three up and…two across, I tink." He said, tapping each brick with the tip of the umbrella.

Suddenly the brick started to twitch and wiggle. Then a hole appeared as the bricks suddenly started to pull back and vanish, forming themselves into an archway. Harry and Ranma could see a cobbled street beyond the arch the quickly twisted to the side, making it impossible for them to see anymore. Several witches and wizards were moving along the sidewalks.

"Dis be Diagon Alley!" Hagrid proclaimed happily.

"Cool!" Harry said as they started walking. He was trying to see everything all at once. Off to the side was a Cauldron shop and Hagrid nodded.

"Y'll be needen one of those for sure."

Just down the street was a pet shop called Eeylops Owl Emporium. Harry couldn't believe that such a place existed. He would need several hours to see everything this place had to offer.

Ranma just followed along. "Harry, now that we know where this place is we can get here any time we want to."

"True."

"Let's grab your stuff for now, then we can explore around and see what else is here."

About midway down the alley was a very large building, with stone steps leading up to a door and pillars supporting more of the massive structure. The whole thing gleamed a grayish white and looked like something out of a Roman city. Hagrid was heading right for it.

"Gringotts! This is our first stop Harry."

Harry could see a thing standing by the front door. It was a little shorter than Harry, had a beard, and longer than normal fingers. Ranma gave it a once over and tried to figure out why being near the thing was making him nervous. It bowed as they approached and opened the door. "Well come to Gringotts."

This led to a second set of inner glass doors with words etched on them from ceiling to floor.

"Enter, stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware Of finding more than treasure there."

Harry glanced at Hagrid.

"That be Gringotts motto/warning. Best not try to rob them or you Will regret it, permanently."

As they entered through the doors, they found themselves in a vast marble room. There was a long counter along the back wall with a lot of goblins sitting on stools. All of them were keeping quite busy, writing in ledgers, weighing gold with a scale, even exchanging money.

Ranma tried to count the doors leading off to other locations in the building and eventually lost count. His senses were being overwhelmed by this place, making it hard for him to concentrate. Harry appeared to be in awe with the whole experience, but Ranma wasn't about to let his guard down. Not after all this.

A few minutes later Hagrid led them over to one of the goblins at the counter. "Hello, Mr. Potter would like to get some money from his vault."

The goblin looked up from his ledger and glared at them. "Does Mr. Potter have his key?"

Off to the side Harry could see a Goblin playing with a large pile of gems, rubies, diamonds, even safires. Each of them had to be worth millions of dollars. At the same time Hagrid started to pull all kinds of things out of his pockets. Old biscuits, a half dozen door mice, some moldy cheese, until finally the giant pulled out a tiny golden key and handed it over.

The goblin examined it for several seconds, as if trying to find a reason to refuse them. "This appears to be in order. I'll have…"

Hagrid interrupted him. "I've also got a letter here about the you know what in vault you know which."

After spending several more seconds reading the letter, the goblin nodded and yelled for a nearby goblin to come over. "Griphook, one withdrawal from Mr. Potter's vault and this." He handed over the letter, after reading it, the goblin nodded and handed it back.

"Follow me."

The Goblin led the across the room, where he opened a door for them that led to a narrow stone passageway. Harry noticed a set of mettle tracks attached to the floor. There was a large cart waiting for them as they approached, big enough to hold even Hagrid, even then the large man had some difficulty getting situated properly.

Ranma and Harry took a front seat while Hagrid had one to himself. Griphook whistled and the cart suddenly lurched forward and hurtled down the tracks, like a roller coaster. Hagrid groaned loudly. Harry nearly stood up as the cold air of the tunnel rushed pasted them, but didn't want to get them in trouble. Heck, Griphook didn't even appear to be controlling the cart as it was.

Several minutes later, and who knows how many miles from the surface, the car slowed to a stop beside a small platform with a large door set into the wall. Hagrid was looking a little green as he got out of the car and trembled a bit. "I hates these things." He muttered under his breath.

Harry and Ranma jumped out after Griphook. The goblin walked up to the door and used Harry's key to open it. The sound of rushing air filled the air as smoke seemed to fill the air around them as it rushed from the vault. Griphook ignored it as he pulled the door open further to reveal several large mounds of gold filling the vault.

Gaping, Harry stepped inside and couldn't believe how much gold was just laying on the floor. Ranma whistled at the fortune as well. "Amazing, who would have thought you had all this just laying around."

"No kidding." Harry said.

Ranma turned to the goblin. "Would it be possible to get a list of everything Harry has here?"

"Just this vault?"

Harry blinked. "There's more?"

"Indeed. The Potters have five vaults here at Gringotts for various uses." Griphook said. "Because you are so young this is the only vault you can take money from, but we can visit the other vaults if you wish."

"I'd like that." Harry said.

"Those vaults have restricted access Mr. Potter, as such they are even further down."

Hagrid groaned, loudly.

"This is our first time here, sir, we might as well get an idea of what was left to Harry." Ranma said.

"No problem, The rest of the Potter vaults are all on the same level, but we need to stop at the other costomer's vault first. It's on the way."

"No problem." Ranma said. "Harry, grab a few hand fulls of each coin."

"Alright sir." Harry said, grabbing several hundred of the little Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts.

The next vault was just a few passages away, number seven hundred and thirteen to be exact. Hagrid climbed out, looking even worse than before, and waited for the goblin to open the vault. This one was a little different though. Instead of a key, Griphook just ran his finger down the front of the door and made it iris open.

"Woah!" Harry said. "That was cool."

Inside was a tiny little paper wrapped package that was given to Hagrid. It promptly vanished into the inner pockets of his jacket. "Best stay back Harry, don't' want to get caught inside this vault."

"Why?"

"Only the goblins can open it safely. Once your inside there's no way for you to get out."

"We only check for intruders once ever ten years or so." Griphook said in an evil voice and smirked a little.

"Aye, tis nasty business that." Hagrid said as they returned to the cart. He was starting to look a little queasy.

The next cart ride was the longest one yet and Harry could have sworn they passed a dragon, the same one, at least three times. Ranma just leaned back and enjoyed the ride. They tried to ignore the groaning giant in the back seat as well. Eventually the car came to a stop beside a large platform. A great big metal door gleamed in the torch light.

Harry jumped out and ran over to the door. As he got closer the wasn't sure, but he could swear it was made out of pure silver. A few seconds later Griphook came over and gestured towards the door.

"Just place your hand on the door Mr. Potter, it will open for anyone of Potter blood."

Nodding, Harry placed his hands against the door and felt a large rush of energy enter his body. After a several seconds something inside the door shifted with a loud thunk and the massive thing opened. Again the air rushed into the air tight vault and released a large amount of smoke.

The inside of this vault made the other one look like a cast off pile of used pennys. Whole section so of the vault were piled high with galleons, clear to the ceiling. Harry could see a couple smaller piles of silver and bronze, but nothing compared to the galleons. He could also see lots of furniture, books, trunks, and clothing piled throughout the room.

"This is just one vault?"

"Yes Mr. Potter. The others are used for long term storage of various items and more money."

"Harry, we can use some of the trunks and other items for school instead of buying new ones." Ranma said.

"You can take any items you want so long as it isn't money." Griphook said.

"But I thought we couldn't take anything?"

"Just the money, that can't be touched till you turn seventeen Mr. Potter. Everything else is available."

"Do you know where everything is in here?"

"No, but I can check the ledger and direct you whatever you need."

"I want my parents school stuff." Harry explained. "The books, trunks, and anything else they may have left in here." Harry said as the idea suddenly occurred to him.

"Good idea, that will allow us to get prepared."

Hagrid spoke up as he came up behind them. "We will still need a couple of tings from Diagon Alley. Not all da books for school are the same now as then, plus you will be needen a wand. We can't leave till yer get that at least."

Harry nodded. "Alright."

Several minutes later Harry dragged a large beat up trunk out from underneath a pile of rugs. It was filled with books, compartments, and other things that Harry didn't recognize. Griphook looked the trunk over and pointed to the manufacture.

"This trunk was made by a world famous trunk maker. That means there is more to this trunk than one would assume. There should be a set of instructions in there somewhere that will explain everything that it can do. I'd also suggest taking all the books in the vault with you to school, that way you can have access to anything you might need."

"But the trunk is full, how would I fit all these other books in there?"

Grinning a little, Griphook snapped his fingers and released a wave a magic. Books all through the vault suddenly glowed and started flying towards them in one long line. As they got close, they would suddenly shrink down to the size of a matchbook and place themselves in one of the drawers. Harry counted nearly five hundred books before they were done.

"How will I get them back to normal size and shrink them again?" Harry wondered.

"You'll have to learn that at school."

"He should be able to learn before school starts." Ranma said. "If he works hard."

"Ar…" Hagrid said. "He isn' allowed ter use magic outside of school, not till he turns seventeen. It's a law."

"We'll make do." Ranma said. "Let's check out those other vaults, grab any books, and then head back up."

There wasn't much else to get from the other vaults though, they were mostly filled with furniture, gold, and more gold. Though they did find a scroll collection that Ranma insisted they take.

"I've never come across a scroll that didn't have something useful written on it." Ranma explained.

In the end they ended up with about a thousand books, far more than Ranma ever expected. Every one of them was a manual about magic. Ranma had never seen so many books in his life and wasn't sure what to do with them all. Hagrid told them to leave him alone on the way back, saying it was best that he didn't have an excuse to open his mouth.

About half an hour later, and one wild cart ride that nearly did in Hagrid's stomach, they were standing in the sun just outside Gringotts. Harry was bouncing around in excitement and even though he had a shrunken trunk in his pocket, he wanted to run around and look at everything.

Hagrid wobbled a bit as he led them over to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Here yer go Harry, best get ya uniform first." It was a rather large store.

A short woman wearing weird colored robe met him as Hagrid pushed him through the door and told him he would be back in half an hour. Hagrid gave Ranma a look before wandering off into the crowd. Ranma had a feeling they wouldn't be seeing their large friend for a while. Several of the female customers were eyeing Ranma as he followed after Harry.

"Hello."

Ranma turned and found himself face to chest of a rather tall woman, well formed too. "Ah, hello?"

"I'm Anna Honson."

"Pleased to meet ya." Ranma said, taking a step back. "Ranma Saotome."

The woman stepped forward, keeping her chest right in his face. She smiled down at him. "I would really like to know more about you, Ranma."

"Ah…"

"A lot more about you." She breathed out, a familiar look in her eyes as they roved all over his body.

"Nothing much to know."

"Oh I'll bet you know a thing or two." She said, blushing a little.

Ranma plastered a grin to his face and tried to find the best way out of the situation. "Well…maybe a little."

The woman giggled, making certain assets jiggled around.

After his ex-fiance's got done with him, sex was one thing Ranma was no stranger to, but he also knew that it could cause problems. Ranma tried to stay away from women as much as he could because they always started to act funny around him, then it was back to the same old stuff as before.

Grinning a little, Ranma glanced over at Harry at the back of the store as he talked to a blonde haired boy getting fitted for a robe. He noticed the look of irritation on Harry's face as well caught the boy's eye and shook his head. Harry glared at him, but nodded and backed down just as the boy finished, stepped down, and headed out of the store.

Harry finished a few minutes later and Ranma met him outside the store, minus one Anna Honson. "What was making you mad?"

"That boy was insulting everyone I've ever known." Harry said and clenched his fists. "I was about to punch him one."

Ranma laughed. "I noticed, remember, if you don't want to get into trouble fight somewhere where no one will discover you. I had to learn that lesson the hard way."

"Yeah, but he was so asking for it, the jerk."

"He did seem to be a bit uppity didn't he? All you had to do was watch him strut around a little."

Laughing, Harry nodded. "He called himself Draco Malfoy."

"I bet you'll meet that one again."

"Yeah, he's going to Hogwarts too."

"Just remember what I said and you should be fine. And here comes our guide, still a little wobbly, but looking a lot better."

"Hagrid!"

"Heya Harry, what's going on, ready to continue?"

"Sure, I wanted to ask out a couple of questions."

"Ger for it."

"What is Qiddich?"

Hagrid grinned a little, his bushy beard nearly hiding it. "That's our sport. Kind of like your baseball or football thingies. It's played all over the world at school and professionally. The Rules are a bit odd though, you need a book on the sport to understand half of them."

"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"

"Where did you hear those names?"

"That blonde boy over there." Harry said, pointing out the jerk as he stood next to a blonde woman in a stylish robe.

"Well Slytherin and Hufflepuff are two of the four houses at Hogwarts, along with Gryffindor and Ravenclaw houses. Slytherin is the house that Vol-vo-That One was in." Hagrid said fearfully.

"He went to Hogwarts!"

"A long time ago kid, long ago." Hagrid muttered.

After a quick stop for more books, Harry grabbed another fifty of the suckers that he thought might be interesting, then they just had one stop left. Hagrid led them to an old shop that looked like it was in dire need of repair from the outside. It had foggy looking windows, an ancient door, and even a faded sign that said Ollivanders.

In the window display, on a half rotted cushion, was a wand. Harry looked it over as they entered the old shop. Ranma could feel something inside the shop that was different than the rest of the alley, something ancient and powerful. He glanced around the dust, but everything looked rather normal. The walls were covered in shelves holding box after box with a wand nestled inside.

He glanced up just as an old man silently walked out of the back room. "Good Afternoon."

"Ollivander, just bringin a Hogwart student by." Hagrid said, pointing at Harry.

"Another Potter, I had a feeling I would be seeing you soon." The old man said and glanced over at Ranma. "Hello, I haven't seen one of your kind in nearly five hundred years."

"Huh?" Ranma said, but Ollivander seemed to just ignore him after that.

Ollivander turned back to Harry and gave him a lopsided grin. "I'm afraid I sold the wand that gave you that scar. To this day I regret it. Now, let's see what we can do with you. What is your wand arm…"

Nearly two hours later Ollivander was about to give up when he walked over to his counter and pulled an old wand out from one of it's shelves. "This wand is one of the rarest ones in the shop, thee is only one other like it in the world." He held the box out to Harry. "Give it a wave."

Picking it up slowly, Harry could tell that this one was a little different than the other wands right away. He could feel his power flowing into the wand almost instantly. He gave it a flick.

Ranma dove out of the way as a wave of light erupted from the end of the wand filling the whole store. Then as quickly as it happened the light vanished and Harry stood there with the rest of them blinking their eyes. "Geeze…"

"Mr. Potter, I had hopped that one wouldn't work for you. Curious that it did, most curious."

"Why?"

"Because, the core of that wand was given by a phoenix, one of its feathers actually. The only other feather that this phoenix has ever given was used in it's brother wand and sold in this store more than fifty years ago. Sold to the man that gave you that scar." Ollivander said, touching his finger to Harry's scar.

The boy gulped and looked down at the wand.

"He Who Must Not Be Named did great things, terrible, but great, and I expect you will do so as well."

Shivering, Harry handed him the Galleons for the wand and Mr. Ollivander waved them out of the store and vanished into his back room. Ranma wanted to ask the old guy about what he meant before.

"Come on Ranma, Hagrid is leaving us behind." Harry said.

"Alright." Ranma wanted to ask the man about his comment, but shrugged it off. I couldn't have been that important.

Their next stop was the Owl Emporium, where Hagrid bought Harry an owl as a birthday present. Harry wasn't sure what to say since he'd never been given any kind of pet before. "Thank you Hagrid, you didn't have to."

"It's yer birthday, gotta celebrate that."

Harry squirmed a little, but accepted the gift.

"What are you going to name him?"

"I'm not sure yet, I need to think about it."

"I've been thinking bout those books and the trunk too. Gots me an idea." Hagrid said as he led them to a quieter part of Diagon Alley. They stopped at a store with a bunch of trunks in the window. "Ol' Mr. Humperdink may be of some help here. If not we can go down to another store and buys you a shrink/enlarge charm."

They entered the shop and Hagrid waved at an old man by the counter. "Hagrid! Need another 'special' trunk?"

"Not today John, my friend here needs yer to see if yous can help 'em with his trunk."

"Of course! What kind is it?"

Harry pulled it out and undid the charm the goblin placed on it. It expanded out and Mr. Humperdink walked around it, examining it closely. Then he knelt down and examined something at the back and grinned. "Why its an old Rienhold. I haven't seen one of these since the first rise."

"Can you tell him now it works, we haven't had time to find instructions."

"Of course, to even have one of these is quite rare. They are made to store the contents of entire houses." He turned to Harry. "Now, see this design that runs along the outside of the trunk lid?"

"Yes sir."

"Take your wand and touch it to each little circle, start here on the left and count around the outside. Thee are twenty three on this trunk, an impressive number."

Harry did as he was told and the little dot would start glowing as soon as his wand touched it and he said a number. "Now what."

"Alright, what you just did was set the trunk to work for you alone. No one else can open this trunk. Now each of these dots represents a different storage space inside the trunk. The first ten are regular trunk types, just open it and the trunk will display what is in that space. The others are where things get interesting." Mr. Humperdink said in glee.

"I don't know what they will hold, more than a few of the thirteen left are going to be entire rooms of varying sizes. Back during the first rise families would place the trunk someplace where it wouldn't be noticed and use it to hide for months on end, rarely ever leaving it for anything. There are usually three or four bedrooms, a kitchen, pantry, library, study, and whatever the user needed. I've seen them equipped with dueling platforms as well."

Now Harry was looking at the thing in awe. He had to open it up. Touching one of the first spots it opened up to reveal a pile of clothing, rather old, moth eaten clothing. Several moths flew away from the trunk and made a run for it.

"Ewe!"

"Well you found some dirty laundry." Ranma said and laughed. "Quite a find."

"Oh be quiet."

"This thing hasn't been used in a while." Mr. Humperdink said, snickering a little. "I'm most interested in seeing what else this thing might be holding."

Touching a dot along the side revealed a ladder leading down inside the trunk. Harry quickly climbed down and looked around at what looked like a simple living room. "It's a living room."

Harry climbed out and grinned at the man. "Is there anyway to shrink the thing down without me getting in trouble for underage magic?"

"Sure, just tap the center of the lid think about shrinking it."

Tapping the lid, the trunk suddenly shrank back down and Harry put it back in his pocket. "Thank you!"

"Thank you, I enjoyed seeing one of these old trunks. They were made to last."

A few minutes later they were out on the street again.

"Hagrid, did you understand what Ollivander was talking about when we were in his store?"

"I was thinking he doesn't see muggles like you very often, I think."

"Muggle? I've heard that word several times today."

"It means non magic folk."

"Ah, well that doesn't quite cover me, but it's close." Ranma said and swatted at Harry's head as the boy rolled his eyes and started snickering.

"Right, well Harry, my train leaves here in a little while, I'll have to hurry to catch it. Yous just take the Knight bus on back home. Hold up yer wand and it should appear right quick."

"That's easy enough."

"I'll see you at Hogwarts." Hagrid reached into yet another pocket, then another, and a third several seconds later. Frowning he starts checking about two dozen pockets in his jacket until he finds what he's looking for, in the first pocket, and hands Harry a train ticket.

"Jus follow der instructions on da ticket and you'll be fine." Hagrid said before ambling off.

"This is going to be interesting." Ranma said.

oooooooooo

Notes: I want Harry to be a bit more prepared for school when he arrives, but not to much. With Ranma around I don't see Harry as completely ignorant and I truly doubt that he'd let Harry just sit around for four weeks without checking out everything they just acquired. Now he isn't going to be genius as some fics show, but he will be more knowlegable.


	4. Chapter 4

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 04  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo 

"Ah, Hagrid. How did it go?" Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts asked as the half giant stepped into the office. As usual he was wearing a rainbow stripped robe, a pair of spectacles, and his long white beard was pooled on the desk.

"Good." Hagrid said as he shuffled into the office.

"What was Harry like? He hasn't been with his Aunt and Uncle for the last several years. Was he happy?"

Hagrid grinned. "Aye, 'arry was quite happy. Till I brought up 'is family anyway."

Dumbledore leaned forward. "Oh?"

"Well sir, 'arry yelled at me for bringing them useless muggles up." Hagrid said, looking a little confused. "I mentioned dem in passing, like, and 'e told me to never mention them again. 'arry's guardian told me that the muggles 'ad been abusing the boy."

Sitting back in his chair, Dumbledore sighed. "You recall that we lost track of the boy several years ago, right?"

Hagrid nodded.

"Well his Aunt, Uncle, and their son were admitted to the hospital several years ago. All of them were suffering from multiple problems. The boy couldn't get near water unless it was luke warm and had some bowel problems. The Uncle seemed to be suffering from a full bodyjelly legs curse and couldn't control any of the muscles in his body, quite messy. And Harry's Aunt was the exact opposite, her whole body was stiff as a board, except her head."

"I didna know this." Hagrid said.

"We didn't tell to many people. Plus it seemed to be a muggle problem so we just observed and started to look for Harry, incase he was also affected by the same thing that affected his relatives."

"That was when you couldn't find him?"

Dumbledore nodded and poured them some tea. "Correct. When we couldn't find him at his home, we panicked a little and started searching the town, but he never showed up. Even when we used locator spells. It was as if he fell off the face of the planet."

"But sir, you knew right where to send me."

"We only found him a few months ago Hagrid, when the school started to make his acceptance letter for Hogwarts. Even then his location was a bit hard to figure out. At first it was in Japan, then it was in China, after that we realized that he was slowly moving across the continent. Apparently on foot."

Hagrid gasped and sputtered. "There is no way a kid like 'arry could walk that kind of distance!"

Dumbledore laughed a little. "We thought the same thing I sent Fawks here out to find him."

Fawks, Dumbledore's red and gold Phoenix squawked when his name was mentioned. The Phoenix flew over to Dumbledore's shoulder, crooning a soft song that calmed everyone down. Hagrid always liked to see Fawks in action.

"I had several spells cast on a little object Fawks took with him and it allowed us to get out first look at Harry in nearly four years." Albus took a sip of his tea.

"Why didna we go get 'em then?"

"Because of who he was with Hagrid."

"That muggle?"

"That muggle is one of the most dangerous people on the planet Hagrid." Dumbledore explained, his eyes twinkling. "It took a bit of digging, but his name is Ranma Saotome and he's on the Japanese Ministry watch list. During the course of his life he's been exposed to dozens of old and ancient dark magic areas, all of it completely on accident due to the boy's father."

"If 'arry is in danger from that useless muggle!" Hagrid yelled, looking angry.

"Calm down Hagrid. Ranma Saotome was exposed to a little known area in China that was once the site of a Dark Magic duel. One of the most destructive ones in the last millennia. A place that has since ruined countless lives and the magic there is still quite potent. This has given him a 'may you live in interesting times' curse."

Hagrid paled under his thick beard. "And 'e is still living?"

"Indeed."

"Mr. Saotome has several curses Hagrid, and they are all of a type that can't just be dispelled because of several factors. One of the most interesting is his Jusenkyo Curse, it turns him into a red headed girl. According to the Japanese Ministry of Magic."

"But sir, why does this make 'em good enough to raise 'arry?"

"Because Hagrid, Ranma took Harry on a student. When that happened it gave Harry the protection he needed. Ranma is a hundred times more dangerous than any Death Eater and we've uncovered evidence that at least three DE's have run into Ranma. All three are still in St. Mungos High Security ward."

"And 'arry is learning how to be as dangerous as this muggle?"

"He is. I was worried at first, but I've observed them on a few occasions and found that Harry has grown quite a bit since Ranma removed him from his relatives house. Harry is taller, stronger, more confident, and more grounded than he ever would have turned out under his Aunt's care. His only problem is that temper, but Ranma is slowly dealing with Harry's anger."

Thinking of his day with Harry and Ranma, Hagrid had to agree that Harry was a lot different than he imagined he would be. "Sir, 'arry seems to hate his relatives though."

Dumbledore sighed. "They were abusing Harry, Hagrid. Hitting him, working him until he just collapsed. I had a nice long 'talk' with Mrs. Dursley that only reinforced my belief that Ranma was working in Harry's best interest."

"I think I understand, sir." Hagrid said, looking thoughtful. "Whatever 'appened to 'is relatives?"

Grinning, Dumbledore laughed. "Turns out the Dursley's had to send for a specialist all the way from Japan. A Moxbustion expert."

"What's that?"

"I have no idea." Dumbledore said with a grin and held a bowl out to Hagrid. "Lemon Drop?"

oooooooooo

By the time they got home, after another insane trip on the Knight Bus, Harry was ready to dig into all his new things and find out what all he had gotten. He ran up to his room and enlarged the trunk, sitting it at the end of his bed. The first thing he wanted to do was check out all the rooms in the trunk.

Never had he seen anything like this and it fascinated him. He quickly made his way to the living room again. Now that he had more time to look around he noticed that there were three doors leading off from the living room. Each door had an elaborate symbol on the door that Harry was beginning to recognize as the Potter family crest.

Pulling out his wand he tapped the door, it glowed for a second and returned to normal. This led to the small kitchen that was ready for instant use, even the faucets worked. Giving him hot and cold running water, a fridge, an oven, and even a small cold locker off to the side. All of it was controlled by magic and Harry wondered if wizards even knew what electricity existed.

Moving back out to the living room Harry repeated the same process with the wand and opened up the next door and found himself in a locker room full of equipment for fighting. He spotted padded suits, gloves, boots, pants, and even several pieces of head gear. All of it looked brand new. On the other side of this room was another door, but this one had a window in it. He looked out into what had to be a large dueling floor covered in blue floor mats.

The third door off the living room led out into an atrium of some kind, but all the plants were over grown or half dead. He would have to clean the place out at some point, but he would worry about it later. Maybe he could trick Ranma into doing it for him, he had to study after all.

Nearly hidden within the tall weeds and trees was a small staircase, this went down one level and opened up into three bedrooms. A quick glance showed him that each one was furnished in rich dark woods and elegant fabrics.

He found another door in the second bedroom that led to what looked like lab of some kind and several lockers full of weird looking powders, scales, and even hair. A case set in the corner of the room held bottles of multi colored liquids that smelled funny even from a few feet away.

Several minutes later he was about to give up when he spotted a fourth door nearly hidden under the stairs. Walking over he tapped it with his wand and waited for it to open for him. After several seconds it swung inwards and torches in every corner of the room lit up to reveal the library. The book cases lined the walls, but he was surprised to find that only about a fourth of the room held books. The rest was empty space for other books.

Set in the corner of the room was a small desk and a leather chair. Sitting on the desk was a book. He walked over and picked it up and found that it was a journal by a guy named S. Potterson. Frowning a little, Harry sat down and opened the journal to a random page.

5 April 1328

The dark one approaches and no matter what I throw at him he just keeps coming, I fear for the life of my family and friends. Why, oh why, did I ever come to this monster's attention… if the monster should gain the device of old, we will all be doomed… darkness shall prevail and everyone shall die in a plague of fire

Harry frowned at it. He suspected that this might be of interest, he would need to wait a little while before he could use this place and all these devices properly. Setting the book back down he headed back up to the ladder and exited the trunk.

"Find anything of interest?" Ranma asked as he stood in the doorway.

"Yeah, it really is set up to house several people. It's even got a gym set up for use, padded floors and everything."

Ranma grinned. "Great, maybe we can continue your training after all. I wasn't looking forward to letting you slack off for nine whole months."

"I wouldn't slack off." Harry snapped.

"Right. Well I'll give you tonight off, so you can explore around a little and get things organized. Also, I want you to read through your text books before you head to school, that way you have some clue what you may be getting into. I'm going to read them as well."

"You just want to find a way to get rid of your curse."

"Hell yeah and don't you forget it." Ranma said and ruffled the boy's hair. "You do remember the speed reading techniques I taught you?"

Harry nodded. "You said it was those techniques that allowed you to actually pass high school. Cause you were never able to get more than an hour or so of peace and quiet."

"Exactly, read fast, memorize every thing, and pass the test. It never failed me."

"I should be through all the school books by the end of the week if I have time to actually read them, but on top of training, I may take a little longer."

"No worries, I think this trunk will allow you the time you need to get through everything you need for school. After that, you can start looking some of the other books you got from your vault. There were a lot of those, more than a enough to keep you busy for years." Ranma said.

Harry sighed. "I'm bored already."

Ranma laughed. "I know the feeling, that's why I learned to read fast. Now get to work lugging all those books down the library. Enlarge them before you take them down, this will be tonight's endurance training."

"Hey, you said I could take the night off."

"Yep, from our daily fight. Everything is training, even this, so get to work. I expect you to be done by bed time."

Sighing, again, Harry nodded and started to enlarge the books and pile them up against the wall of his room. Ranma watched him for a while before he stepped out of the room. He headed down to the dinning room and sat down at the table. He crossed his legs and started to meditate, cataloging his day, and making sure he would remember everything that had happened.

Because of Harry's training, Ranma tended to train him year round, and made him go to summer school to make up for things. A years worth of classes in three short months was better idea than anything Genma had ever come up with. What was even better was that Harry only had three weeks worth of summer school left before he graduated.

Ranma quickly revised his plans to take Harry on another six month long training trip around China and adapted to the new situation. It would mean less chances of Harry making some friends on the trip, but would allow him to learn a lot more about the Anything Goes style. Ranma had only been training him for six years now, but the boy was about a year behind where Ranma expected him to be and that had to be changed.

Taking all those books down into the trunk took several hours and Harry did indeed take the time to turn it into training. Instead of holding the books in his arms, he balanced them on his head and dropped into the trunk. From there it was down to the library.

After several loads like that he started piling them in his arms, on his head, and even balancing them on his shoulders. It made the game a lot more challenging. He only fell a couple dozen times, but the books were never damaged. His reflexes allowed him to catch them before they hit the floor. Another exercise that Ranma liked to have him practice all the time.

As predicted, Harry was through all the books for school by the time they reached the end of the week. Ranma read them right after Harry did and started to incorporate wand movements into Harry's training within a few days. Because it was training, Ranma wasn't to gentle about it either.

Then Harry had to learn to fight while holding his wand, a weakness that needed some special moves. Ranma told him that even though the wand gave him power, it was still just a tool. This led Harry to realize that he still needed to defend himself and others without the wand. So the training was added to his already long training schedule.

Using regular sticks Ranma started making Harry fight with one in his hand, teaching him how to move, attack, and defend with the stick while keeping it intact. Ranma could already see Harry using his wand in a similar way that the old pervert did to toss people around, but that was a few years off yet. Harry needed to build up his confidence and Ki reserves first.

Ranma decided that if the wand was going to be a part of Harry's life from now on a slight alteration to the school would have to be made. So that it could be adapted to Harry's magic with easy. Anything Goes at it's most basic. So Ranma started to adapting several of the Dagger Kata styles into the training.

He did all this Harry was at summer school. Ranma also spent a couple of hours every morning trying to emulate the spells in the book without a wand. Using his Ki reserves instead of magic. So far, he was only able to use his Ki to get the same effect and not the spell itself. Ranma wasn't deterred though, he figured it would take him a while to get the first one down and after that every thing would fall into place.

They used Hedwig, Harry's owl, to owl order several items from Diagon Alley as well. They had found several catalogs within all their bags and decided to put them to good use. These included a couple of wand holsters, some combat robes in case Harry had to duel someone, and special glasses for Harry.

Unlike the one's he was wearing, these were supposed to be unbreakable, scratch proof, and were spelled to allow Harry to see perfectly even when there was little or no light in a room. Ranma was a little surprised to find that Harry's normal prescription had changed in the last year, but shrugged it off.

The new glasses were a bit of a crutch device, but Ranma figured they would work for the moment. He was kind of hoping the kid would learn enough magic to fix his eyes on his own, but so far the first year books didn't mention a thing about it so they would deal with that later.

Ranma also got a chance to see the fully stocked library and was amazed at the number of books held in the room now. Over a thousand of them and he had a feeling that this was just a small number. Several of the shelves were still empty, even with all those books. This trunk was truly designed to hold nearly everything.

By the end of the third week of August arrived Ranma was started to get a little frustrated with reading book after book on magic and not getting anywhere. He was memorizing the words and wand movements as fast as Harry was and he still couldn't get the magic to do anything. He also didn't care one wit what this so called ministry would do to him when he learned magic.

Harry just thought it was funny that he was spending so much time trying to learn something that should be impossible for him to learn. Ranma just snorted and continued to try. The impossible didn't apply to Ranma Saotome. Mean while, Harry also graduated from school, beat the living hell out of Stevenson one more time for being a jerk.

This time he wasn't caught so Ranma sent out for pizza to celebration his win and show off the diploma. Packing a years worth of learning in three months solved so much time as far as Ranma was concerned. While there, Ranma noticed that Harry was wearing his wand holder, on his forearm.

"How is the holster working out?" Ranma asked as they ate at the table inside the trunk.

Harry smirked, twisted his hand, and the stick he was using sprang out into his hand. He quickly twirled the stick and did several of the wand movements in quick order. "This thing will come in quite handy."

"Good, are you excited to go?"

"Yeah and it's even better you will be coming with me. I didn't want to slack of in my training, but I'll need more time for the regular classes."

"Yeah, I remember how they used to bog us down with work all the time. What a pain."

Harry laughed. "Well there isn't much we can do about that, but we should still have time in the morning and at night."

"How are you going to get your running done?" Ranma wondered.

"I was thinking we could skip that a bit, maybe once or twice a week and we can increase the hand to hand stuff."

Ranma nodded. "I was thinking doing that or making you run in the morning, practice in the afternoons, and working on new stuff at night when you had time."

"Maybe. I have to see what my schedule will be first."

"True. But you read all those books so you do know what they'll be teaching you."

"Yeah, I'm excited about charms and transfiguration, they sound like they are the most useful of everything taught."

"Defense will be good for you too. I'm not so sure about potions though, it sounds kind of hokey to me."

"The trunk has a potions lab in and I've been down there cataloging and identifying all the ingredients that are available. Comparing to those items mentioned in my book."

"Oh? That lab room?"

"That's the one. I think I'll be putting that place to good use this year."

Ranma nodded.

"Have you managed to get any of those spells to work?"

"Not yet, but I'm close. It's like I'm just missing a step or something. I can feel what I want, but there is a gap there that I have to bridge. Once I do that I know I'll have it down."

"I'm looking forward to doing that. All these wand movements seem to just slow me down."

"The books did say that with several years practice you would be able to do most of these spells with ease, even without the wand movement. We'll just have to practice."

Harry nodded as he put the stick away.

"I'm also going to try and find a way for you to practice magic during the summer months, when we will have the most time available to train and practice. I still can't believe they would expel you for just practicing here at the house. Heck, no one but us would see you anyway."

Harry shrugged. "I'm just glad I found that book, otherwise I would have ignored what Hagrid said about not doing magic."

"There has to be a way around that and we'll find a way." Ranma said. "Now you get some sleep, we are heading out early tomorrow. Remember to put on those special clothes I got for you."

Harry nodded, slowly, already in pain from a practice he hadn't even been through yet. He really wished Ranma's training ideas weren't so odd at times. Who in their right mind would think up something as strange as clothes that weighed more than he did?

Still, it was a good way to train. According to Ranma and better than running through a swamp with a couch strapped to your back and being chased by wolves. Harry still wasn't sure he believed that one, but Ranma had shown him the scars to prove it.

oooooooooo

Notes: As usual, Dumbledore knows more than he's letting on. I know the trunk idea isn't the most original of ideas, but I needed a way for Ranma to go with Harry. Ranma doesn't like to let Harry out of his sight for to long and knows the kids needs someone to watch over him from time to time, plust other reasons.


	5. Chapter 5

Notes: That last chapter sucked, I admit it. No matter how many times I went over it, I just couldn't get ch 4 to work right. The scene with Dumbledore and Hagrid was the only one that I liked, the rest…feh. This chapter though, Is a lot better. This is the one where the story really starts to take shape.

Edited 6/25/05 Removed scene that is mentioned at the beginning of ch 6.

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 05  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

A week later, wearing a long sleeved blue silk shirt and baggy black pants, Harry strolled through the crowded train station looking a little confused. His ticket said that he was to report to platform 9 and 3/4 and yet it didn't seem to exist. He was starting to get a little irritated and glanced over at a guard.

Harry was starting to think that Hagrid forgot to tell him something. For a second Harry really wondered if he should get his wand out and start tapping all the bricks between platform's nine and ten. He laughed to himself for a second, then stumbled forward as a large family nudged him out of the way.

"…blasted muggles are everywhere." One of them snapped under his breath.

Giving the kid a glare, which the red head didn't see, Harry started to follow along behind them. He kept his presence as unobtrusive as possible as he trailed them. They were to busy whispering among themselves to notice him though. Harry noted that a couple of the boys were holding tickets identical to his.

They moved towards a column set right between platforms nine and ten and the one Harry assumed was their mother, a plump woman, pushed one of four red headed boys forward. "Go on Percy, you first."

"Thank you Mother." He said formally and walked forward.

Suddenly a large number of people seemed to pass behind the boy as he reached the wall, by the time they passed the boy was gone. The same happened for the next two boys, twins by the look of them. The forth boy was nervous, but he stalked forward and vanished into the crowd of people.

"Oh hello."

Harry almost jumped, but controlled himself as he turned to the woman as she looked him over. He noticed the little girl trying to hide behind her. "Hello?"

"Hogwarts ticket I see, need help getting to the platform?"

"Please?" Harry asked, relieved that she was willing to help.

"It's easy, just walk towards the barrier and right through it. Don't be nervous and you'll be fine."

Harry nodded and walked towards the wall feeling a little silly. He closed his eyes and hoped he wasn't about to make a fool out of himself by walking into a wall. He picked up speed and nearly stumbled when he didn't run into anything a few seconds later.

Opening his eyes he found himself standing on a platform, a nearby sign read: Hogwarts Express 11 o'clock. A large red steam train stood waiting next to the platform, dark gray smoke rising into the air. He could even smell the smoke from the engine as it hung over the heads of all the children as they boarded the train. There were owls, cats, and even several frogs everywhere he looked.

Moving forward Harry pushed his way through the crowd of children until he was able to make his way onto the train and wandered around until he found an empty car. Sighing in relief, he quickly found a seat and sat down. Harry watched as the red heads from before started to help each other get their trunks onto the train.

He wondered for a moment if he should have kept his trunk enlarged and loaded it on the train like the others. There wasn't anything that said he had to do that so he shrugged it off. According to the ticket the whole trip would take about nine hours so he was glad he had his trunk with him.

Ranma spent quite a bit of time loading one of the smaller compartments with various kinds of junk food and snacks. Most of it was down in the kitchen though. The rest was in a small drawer so it would be easier to access. He looked up as the door to the compartment was pulled open and the red headed boys stepped inside.

"Mind if…

"…we share?" The twins asked.

Harry laughed. "Not at all."

"Thanks." They said at the same time and quickly sat down. The third boy started to sit down and froze in place gaping at Harry.

"Dementor got your tongue Ron?"

"It's H-H-H-" Ron stuttered."

"Well a cat at least." The second twin said and held out his hand to Harry. "Fred and George Weasley, even we don't…

"…know who is who after thirteen years. And we really tried to find out too."

Harry laughed again, the boys had their sense of timing down quite well. He shook their hands. "Harry Potter."

Ron squeaked.

"Really?" Fred said as he glanced at Harry's head. "Amazing, I never expected to meet you before. Wicked!"

"You think your surprised, I had no clue who I was until Hagrid showed up and explained things to me." Harry said.

"HARRY POTTER!" Ron yelled.

"We've established that." Harry said, giving the boy a look which made him blush. The twins laughed.

"At least Percy…"

"…isn't here."

"Oh?" Harry asked.

"He's our other brother, but he was made a prefect over the summer and it's been driving the…"

"…whole family nuts. He never shuts up about what an honor it is, and struts around like he's got a stick up his bum." The one Harry decided was Fred, said.

Suddenly the door opened up and two older boys ran in, whispered something to the twins and ran out. Fred and George grinned as they got up. "We'll be back after while, seems there's a giant tarantula we have to go see." George said as they glided out of the car.

Ron finally got control of himself and managed to sit down across from Harry, though he was still openly gaping at him. Which was beginning to get on Harry's nerves, just a bit. Then the red headed boy gulped and tried to get control of himself. "Are you really Harry Potter?"

"Yep."

"Wicked! I thought my brothers were playing another joke on me. They joke around all the time. Scar! You've really got the…"

Harry humored the boy by lifting the bangs of his hair up to reveal the lightning bolt scar. "Yep." He drawled. "Though I can't recall when it happened, just a flash of green light."

"Wow, that's just…wow." Ron said, staring again.

Harry sighed. This was going to get old quick. He reached into his pants and pulled out some hard candy to suck on. He gave a handful to Ron.

"What's this?"

"Just some candy."

"I've never seen this kind before."

"Just Jolly Ranchers." Harry said with a shrug.

Ron quickly handed them back looking a little scared.

"What?"

"I don't want to be a happy cow boy, being turned into a chicken was bad enough when the twins did it."

Harry started laughing.

"It's not funny!"

"Alright, alright, it's just candy Ron. It won't do anything to you and I don't know any magic yet anyway."

"What, none?"

"Nope, just found out I was a wizard about a month ago."

"But you…you took out He Who Must Not Be Named! You have to know all about that!"

Harry shrugged. "Not a thing except what I've read about in a couple of my books. I grew up thinking I was a normal person, well relatively normal. What's that moving in your shirt?"

"Oh!" Ron said as he leaned back. Reaching inside his shirt, he pulled out a tired looking rat that looked like it had seen better days. It was even missing a toe. It yawned as Ron held him up for Harry to look at. "This is Scabbers."

"Cool."

"Naw, he's useless. Scabbers belonged to Percy, but he got an owl when he was made prefect and he gave me the rat."

"You should have gotten an owl, they are dead useful."

"We couldn't aff…I mean mom made sure I got Scabbers." Ron said, refusing to look Harry in the eye.

"I see."

A little while later the door opened up and they could see a woman with a cart piled high with candy and goodies. Harry was more than happy to grab something to eat since he hadn't eaten anything for breakfast. Morning sparing had taken a little longer than usual and Ranma wanted to make sure he got enough practice in before they had to leave.

Harry was a bit dismayed to see that the cart didn't have any foods he recognized. So he bought a few of everything and gave half of it to Ron before the boy could refuse. He was a bit surprised when it didn't cost him as much as he expected.

"Hungry?"

"I'm starved, those candies earlier just weren't enough."

"I hear ya." The red head said as he ate.

"A chocolate frog? Ewe…" Harry said, holding up a package. "These aren't really..."

"Naw, just chocolate shaped like a frog, they'll jump around two or three times before they run out of magic. They come with a card though, look and see who you got."

Harry quickly opened the package and ate the frog then turned the card over. "Albus Dumbledore."

"That's a good one, but if you happen to see Agrippa or Ptolemy card I'll trade you some good ones for them." Ron said.

Harry examined the card, reading about how Dumbledore was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, one of the most powerful wizards around currently, and how with the help of a guy named Flamel invented several uses for dragon blood. On the other hand, the guy liked to bowl for some reason.

"Hey, he's gone." Harry said as he turned the card back over.

"Of course, can't expect him to stick around all day can you?"

"Guess not, but I've never known a picture to just move around." Harry said, sticking the card in his pocket.

After Ron tore into the Every Flavor beans and found a rather nasty one, Harry decided that he didn't want to have any of them. There seemed to be a large number of brown beans in the back. Inching away from the potentially disgusting beans, Harry glanced out the window as the train moved across the country side.

The wide and well kept fields were gone and had been replaced by the untamed country side. Wide rivers, more and more trees, and unending hills covered in a deep green covering of plants that hadn't seen a human hand in hundreds of years.

There was a light tap at the door to their compartment and a slightly pudgy boy stuck his head in. "Have any of you seen a toad?"

"Nope." Harry said as him and Ron shook their heads.

The boy seemed to deflate and slowly backed out of the compartment and headed down the hall towards the next compartment. Harry got up and shut the door just to make sure no one could stand there and start at him. He was really starting to dislike being famous. At least the boy hadn't fallen all over himself like Ron did.

Of course Ron wasn't as awe struck as he was at first, so Harry was a little calmer around him by now. Just as he was about to sit down the door opened again. This time a girl stuck her head in and looked around. "Have either of you seen a toad? Neville seems to have lost his."

"Sorry, we haven't seen him." Ron said, looking the girl over.

She was a little taller than them, long brown hair, glasses, and wearing her Hogwarts robes. Harry sat back down as Ron talked to her and tried not to sigh. He could tell that the girl was going to want to know his name. Stupid famous name.

"I'm Hermione Granger by the way."

"Ron Weasley."

"…Harry Potter." Harry said, resigned to his fate.

The girl's eyes widened just a bit. "Really! I've read all about you!"

Harry was surprised when the girl didn't stare openly at his forehead. "You've read about me?"

"Oh my yes, I picked up some extra books for the trip. Several of them talk about you."

Harry shrugged. He really didn't want to talk about it. "I've read a couple myself."

"By the way, any idea what house you'll be in?" She asked, looking at Harry.

"No, but I know which one I don't want to be in."

"Me too, I just wonder how they are going to sort us into houses." She said, almost talking to herself. She adjusted her glasses. They gleamed in the setting sun as the light streamed through the window. "I'll see you around, gotta help Neville."

She shut the door and Ron sighed loudly. "What a ruddy bore! I thought she would never leave."

Harry laughed a little and quickly forgot about the girl. He had read about himself in several of the books over the last month, but none of them ever explained how he survived, only that he had. It was all a bit confusing as far as he was concerned.

"Speaking of houses, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in Gryffindor. All my brothers are so it's a pretty good bet that I will be too, but one never knows. I'd quit school if I ended up in Slytherin though." Ron said and Harry could tell that the boy meant it.

"Why?"

"Slyths are horrible." Ron growled. "Every witch or wizard that has ever gone bad has come out of or had some connection to Slytherin house. You Know Who was in that house and look what he did."

Harry didn't know what to say. He understood what Ron was talking about, but the only people he could really hate that much was his relatives and they earned that a hundred fold. "Well I'll have to wait and see."

"Trust me, they're bad news. Even Fred and George complain about them all the time." Ron stated.

The door opened, again, and Harry almost groaned and wished the blasted door had a lock on it. Three boys stepped into the compartment and looked around. Harry instantly recognized the one shortest one in the middle as the blonde boy from Diagon Alley.

"You!" He yelled and pointed at Harry.

"Yes?"

"You're Harry Potter?" He sneered.

"Yep, what about it?"

The two boys behind Draco, rather large ones stood on either side of Draco. They looked like a pair of body guards. Harry took one look at the three of them and instantly disliked them. It was just a feeling, but Harry, because of his training, was good judge of character.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle, and as I told you before, I'm Draco Malfoy."

"I'd advise you not to hang out with this trash." Draco said, pointing at Ron. "Some wizarding families are better than others. It's best you make friends with the right…sort of wizard." Draco said arrogantly, glaring at Ron with contempt.

"I think I can choose my own friends." Harry said evenly, though his fist was starting to itch. He had to resist the urge to bop the boy one for insulting Ron like that.

Draco glared at him. "You'd best learn your place or you'll end up like your parents and I can make it happen."

Crabble and Goyle moved in front of Draco as they watched Harry's face go completely blank. Eyes burning in rage, Harry slowly turned to stare at Draco, no Malfoy, and everyone felt a wave of anger flood the compartment.

An aura of red energy formed around Harry as he stood there, his eyes glowing with power. Malfoy backed up a couple of steps and went a little more pale. Even the body guards stepped back in shock as Harry's eyes turned on them. "Get out, or you will learn just how big of a mistake you just made."

"I-I-I…" Draco stuttered in fear.

The three boys scrambled to get out of the compartment, they tripped over each other several times as they scrambled to get away. Even Ron backed away a little and he knew Harry wasn't talking about him. He was starring in awe at Harry again as the boy slowly calmed down

Clenching his fists, Harry growled a little and he kept glancing at the door as if expecting them to come back. Finally the energy radiating off Harry vanished as quickly as it flared to life. Ron looked down at the burn mark on the floor boards.

"Whoa."

"Sorry you had to see that." Harry said as he sat down. He looked really tired though.

"How did you do that! I thought you said you didn't know anything about magic?"

"My teacher has been teaching me how to harness Ki energy for a couple of years now. That was the first time I've ever been able to tap into it though. Kind of figures it would be anger though."

"That was bloody amazing! You burned the floor!" Ron said and pointed at it.

Sighing, Harry looked down and chuckled a little. "I guess I did. Hopefully that brat won't be back any time soon."

"After that I bet he'll never talk to you again."

"Good." Harry muttered.

"I've heard about the Malfoy family before. Slytherins the lot of them. They even used to follow You Know Who and were some of the first ones to change sides after He fell. They are bad news according to my father."

Harry nodded, not a bit surprised and then rolled his eyes as the door opened once more. But this wasn't Malfoy returning, but Hermione Granger and she looked a bit confused. She glanced at them over the edge of her glasses. "Three boys just ran to the other end of the train and are hiding in the baggage carriage. They won't come out either. What's going on?"

Ron started laughing and pointed at Harry.

She turned towards him. "So?"

Sitting up tiredly, Harry shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

Her lips thinned a little as she tried to thing up something to say, but Harry leaned back and closed his eyes. "I…"

"It's nothing to worry about." Harry said.

"They threatened to kill Harry." Ron said finally, still snickering at the thought of the boy's cowering on the other end of the train.

"They did WHAT!" Hermione yelled.

"Don't worry about it, Harry showed them something they weren't expecting and they ran away like the cowards they are."

Hermione blew out some air and nodded slowly. "The others are acting so childish that I stepped in here to get out of the way." She huffed as she turned to leave, nearly being run down by a pair of boys running by yelling loudly. Ron started laughing again.

Harry was about to close his eyes when a voice echoed through the train telling them that they were fifteen minutes from Hogsmead station.

oooooooooo

Inside the trunk, Ranma was sitting at the table in the kitchen looking up at the 'ceiling' and wondering what had just pissed off his student so much.

"Amazing that he was able to form a Ki aura this soon." Ranma muttered, then shrugged. He could tell that the situation was over and he didn't need to worry about it at all.

oooooooooo

Notes: Akane can be truly scary when she flares her battle aura because it's pure anger and rage. Harry's battle aura was just as scary and uncontrolled as Akane's. It is also something that wizards would be unlikely to have ever encountered before.


	6. Chapter 6

Note: The descriptions of the first year's ride to the castle are slightly different than they are in the book. I did this on purpose and not ignorance. It really holds no major purpose other than a bit more of added originality. 

Thanks to everyone that has been reviewing the story, it's really been helping me to keep working on this story. I've already finished 16 chapters, over 300kb worth of work, and have about ten more chapters to go. With any luck I'll get them finished soon. Each new chapter that I post is going through an edit and expansion as well, just to make it flow a little better. It works great with these small chapters.

Give me some reviews! And Check out the Omake at the end!

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 06  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

"We need to get dressed. We won't have time once the train stops and we head to the castle." Ron explained.

"Alright." Harry said as he climbed to his feet, pulled his trunk out of his pocket and enlarged it. He ignored Ron gaping at him again as he pulled out his robes from the first compartment and got dressed. He quickly pulled the black robe over his head, covering up his silk shirt and black pants. Some of his blue shirt was still visible, but only a tiny bit of it.

Harry wasn't sure what to think of the wide sleeves of the robe though. He shook his arm a couple of times. He just couldn't figure out why he was supposed to wear such weird clothing. Why did it have to be too large as well? It was bad enough when he was forced to wear his cousin Dudley's used and nearly destroyed clothing.

Now he was being forced to wear a stupid looking robe that completely restricted his range of motion. He would have tried to perform a couple of high kicks, but could tell that the robe wouldn't' let him. It could very well be destroyed the first time he got into a fight. He grinned inwardly at that thought and tried to envision himself exploding out of his robe and kicking someone's ass.

He grinned as he went to put his trunk away. This made Ron glance at him. "You need to leave your trunk here. They'll take it up to the castle for you." Ron said. "That's what my mum said."

"Naw, it shrinks down easy enough." Harry said. He didn't want to leave the trunk for anyone to find or figure out some of its secrets. He would just have to hope no one made a big deal about the trunk. They sat down and talked about a few other things until the train slowed to a stop, and the students started to exit from the train onto a small, dark, platform.

The older students started to walk for the horseless carriages that were waiting for them at the end of the platform, Harry almost followed them, but then a loud voice called out for the first years. Harry turned and saw Hagrid standing at the other end of the platform holding a large lantern.

"Fis-years! Over here!" He yelled again and waved them over. "All of ya 'ere? Alright den, follow me and mind yer step!"

The large man led them down a rather muddy path, away from the platform. At first Harry wondered why they weren't with the older students, but then they finally rounded a bend in the slippery trail and go their first look at the mighty castle, well some of it anyway, just the upper floors. Even then, they all made approving noises as the castle was finally revealed, every floor and room lit up with torch light. It was quite a sight.

The castle was set on a hill in the distance, it's high walls and turrets rising into the sky. Harry looked around and saw that they were at the edge of a great big lake. Several small boats were bobbing around at the water's edge. Hagrid waved them to the boats.

"Pile in! No more'n then four to a boat!" He bellowed.

Everyone scrambled to get into boats as quickly as they could. Though several of the girls looked a little scared as they edged around Hagrid's massive frame. Several of the children eyed the little boats with fear, but they got in anyway. Harry just shrugged, remember the time Ranma took him on a little swim at a local lake and wasn't to worried.

"Forward!" Hagrid yelled and the occupied boats pulled out onto the water, without any help at all, and started to make their way across the lake. A few seconds later, they rounded a bend and got their first full look at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Many of the children were staring up at the castle on the edge of cliff above them. At the edge of the cliff, at the lake's surface, was a large dark maw of a cave.

They had to duck down as they boats made their way through a curtain of Ivy that almost completely covered the cave entrance. Harry was just looking around like everyone else when he felt something pass over his skin and cover his whole body. He blinked a few times and wondered why he suddenly felt a little safer than he had a few seconds before. Once through the ivy, the boats picked up a little speed and beached themselves on a small sand bar a little ways in.

"Everyone out!" Hagrid yelled as he grabbed his lantern and led them towards a series of small steps at the back of the cave. This led to a staircase that led upward until they exited the cave and stepped out on to the lawn near a massive wooden door.

Hogwarts stood before them in all her glory. Hagrid eyed them all before pounding on the door three times, nearly rattling it from its hinges. He stepped back and carefully placed the large lantern on a hook built into the wall next to the door. Harry watched as the door opened up to reveal a small area with more stairs leading up into the castle.

A stern looking witch was waiting for them. She was dressed in a black robe, perfectly cut and styled. Glasses adorned her face and her hair was pulled back into a tight bun that looked nearly solid. Harry could tell that she was quite old, but he could feel a kind of power radiating off her that he couldn't quite figure out. Now one else was giving off this kind of power.

"Professor McGonagall, the firs' years." Hagrid said formally.

"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take them from here." She said and motioned for them to follow her.

Harry wasn't one for formalities so he looked a little bored with the whole thing as they all filed into the castle. Sure, it was interesting to look at, but he figured he would have plenty of time to explore. He wanted to find some food and head to bed. It was already dinner time too.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the pudgy kid from before was holding a large toad in his hands and that it was struggling to get away from him. Off to the side the Granger girl was adjusting her glasses trying to see everything at once and mumbling something under her breath as she looked up a moving painting.

Harry was sure said the word 'fascinating' more than once and laughed a little. "Hey Ron, any idea what we're supposed to do now?"

"Naw, my brothers mentioned that we have to be sorted into one of the school houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuf, or…Slytherin." Ron said, nearly spitting out the last name.

"Slytherin?"

"The House of Traitors and dark wizards." Ron said in contempt.

Harry snorted. "I doubt that Ron."

Ron shrugged. "Every dark wizard in the last hundred years has come out of Slytherin house, even You-Know-Who."

"That isn't true." Hermione said.

Harry gave her a glance. "Oh?"

"Each house represents certain personality traits. You are placed in the house that matches your own traits."

"Buzz off will you." Ron sneered at Hermione.

"Well!" Hermione snapped and moved away.

"Ron, that wasn't very nice."

"She's nosey and gets on my nerves. I hope she isn't in my house or she'll drive me batty."

Rolling his eyes, Harry looked away and noticed Malfoy and his two friends several feet away at the end of the line. They were staying as far away from Harry as was physically possible and even flinched when they noticed him looking their way. Harry could feel his anger coming back as he was reminded of the death threat, but luckily he was distracted as McGonagall finally stopped and turned to look at them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I will lead you into the Great Hall where we will sort you into the house where you will spend the next seven years of your schooling. Each house is designed to bring the best characteristics of each student. Now the Sorting Ceremony will take place here in a few minutes. Please wait here till I come back to get you." McGonagall told them and quickly walked through a nearby door.

Harry was about to ask Ron another question when his vision suddenly turned fuzzy and he saw a wooden like object rising into the air and smashing things. Shaking his head, the vision vanished as soon as it had appeared. So fast that no one even noticed that anything was wrong. Harry took his glasses off, rubbed his eyes, and wondered what just happened.

Everyone except Hermione anyway, who was looking in his direction as he nearly fell over. Then several girls screamed and everyone looked around to see several ghosts floating right through the back wall. The gaggle of eleven year olds all scrambled to get away from the transparent monsters. Harry, put his glasses back on and raised and eyebrow.

"Weird." He recalled some story that Ranma told him once, something about a Ghost cat and a bell. He wondered if these ghosts were anything like that cat and hoped they weren't.  
A couple of the ghosts appeared to be arguing with each other.

"…that menace has caused enough problems. I say it's time for him to go."

"Nay Fryer, just ignore him and he'll eventually leave everyone alone."

"We've given Peeves enough chances, we really must…" The Fryer snapped just as the ghosts seemed to see the first years. "New students! Oh how lovely!" He said with a giant smile. "You're all about to be sorted? Hufflepuff all the way!"

The kids all paled a little.

Draco Malfoy snorted and sneered at the ghosts as they all started leaving through a nearby wall. "Useless thing."

"Ignore them, they're harmless." Said Hermione.

Sneering again, Malfoy ignored her and leaned against the wall just as Professor McGonagall stepped back into the room and stared down at the kids. Harry wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that this whole thing was prearranged for some reason. After several seconds of silence, McGonagall started to talk. "Form a line and follow me, it's time."

Several of the kids gulped nervously as they formed up behind the woman. Harry wondered if they were all about to be thrown to the lions or something. He found the idea intriguing. It would certainly be better than being bored, tired, and hungry. The only student that didn't appear to be nervous was Malfoy and he made it a point to be the last one out of the hall.

She led them though a small maze of hallways until they reached a pair of massive doors. They opened on their own as they approached, revealing a huge room full of black robed students waiting for them to enter. Four large tables ran the length of the hall, each one packed with students. At the far end of the hall was a small table where the teachers were seated, waiting for the Sorting to begin.

Several of the ghosts from earlier seemed to be gliding about the room as well, talking to random students. The ceiling of the large room was hidden under a hall length illusion of stars and clouds, giving it the appearance that the room was exposed to the elements. Harry heard Hermione saying that it was charmed to appear that way. According to some book she read about a week ago.

Beside the door was a stool with an old wizards hat on it, ratty looking, slightly stained, and ripped in a couple of places. McGonagall picked them up, carried them to the front of the hall, and had the first years stop and wait for her about half way in.

As she sat the stool down the hat seemed to come to life, opened it mouth, and started to sing. Behind him he heard Malfoy snort and make some comment about useless magical items. The rest of the first years actually seemed to be listening to the song, entranced.

Harry ignored the thing, he just wanted some food, and he really didn't care about it anyway. He just wanted to see how the sorting was done so he could get it over with as well. He also needed a few minutes of privacy to make sure Ranma was all right inside the shrunken trunk. He also wanted to look around a little without everyone hanging around and gawking.

As the song finished Harry was jerked back to reality as Professor McGonagall pulled a scroll out of her robe and unrolled it. "When I call your name, come forward and put on the hat!"

Ron Weasley almost fainted in relief. "I thought we would have to fight a troll or something."

Several of the first years laughed at this, while others tried not to laugh at the red headed boy. Harry kept quiet, suddenly feeling self conscious and wanted to do something like this in private instead of with all these people watching. He shifted around nervously and hoped this would go quick.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

The girl ran up to the stool, sat down, and put the hat on. The hat seemed to fall down over the blonde haired girl's eyes. After several seconds, it opened its mouth again. For a second Harry thought it was going to sing again, but then it called out a name.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

A table on the far right of the room started cheering and the girl ran over to them and sat down as quickly as she could. After that, Harry ignored the rest of the sorting until his own name was called. He did notice when Hermione was sorted into Ravenclaw though. Ron on the other hand seemed to be relieved that she was gone.

"POTTER, HARRY!"

A hushed silence spread through the room as he made his way up to the stool and grabbed the hat. Many people were looking at him in awe as he put the hat on and sat down. The brim dropped down over his eyes and Harry felt a presence in his mind that wasn't his own.

'Interesting.' Said a voice inside his ear where only he could hear it.

'What's up?'

'You will be difficult to sort. You have led such an interesting life that you are quite different from the rest of the students. You aren't naive or innocent anymore. You have talents in so many areas. Some are quite surprising indeed. You have ambition that would make you worthy of Slytherin and the fearfulness of a Gryffindor. Books have never been a big part of your life until a couple of years ago though. This Ranma seems to have been a great influence on you, young Harry.' The hat said.

'I'd rather not be in a house with Malfoy, I nearly attacked him on the train and things will be worse if we have to live together.'

'My thoughts exactly. Therefore, you will be "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled.

'Thank you'

"We got Potter!" The table full of Gryffindor's chanting and cheering.

Harry took the hat off and saw one of the tables was cheering as he stood up and sat the hat back down on the stool. He walked over to the table and saw that several of the teachers were watching him closely, three of them a lot more than the others.

The old man, Dumbledore, seemed to be eyeing him with pride. Something that Harry didn't know what to think about. He was used to living the way he wanted to with the occasional bit of help from Ranma. The old man reminded him of those nosy people that kept trying to tell him how to live his life.

Now the other two were giving him looks he recognized easily. Pure hate. Harry was used to people hating him, but not complete strangers. He would ask Ranma about it the next time they got a chance to talk. The most obvious one was a man with long hair and a hooked nose sending him the death glare.

Harry turned and stared back defiantly, making the man narrow his eyes and snarl a little. The other was Quirrell. The stuttering man seemed to be radiating pure hate unlike anything Harry had ever felt before. Harry could read it in the way the man stood and fidgeted. However, it wasn't as obvious on the surface so no one really seemed to notice but Harry.

"What did you do to Professor Snape?" Asked one of the Weasley twins.

"Not a thing." Harry said. "Though if he keeps that up I'm going to deck him one."

The twins laughed and nodded. "We can help, just let us know. The slimy git deserves a bit of punishment."

"WEASLEY, RON!" McGonagall yelled and the hat was barely on the boy's head when it screamed Gryffindor. The twins cheered and pounded on the table as the boy ran over and plopped himself down next to Harry.

"Congratulations."

Ron beamed. "Now all we need is food."

"I'd rather get a little sleep." Harry muttered and yawned.

Professor McGonagall walked over to them. "Harry, where is your trunk, the house elves couldn't find it when they went to place it in Gryffindor tower."

He looked up at the stern looking woman. "In my pocket. I didn't want to let it out of my sight."

"Well just remember to set it up next to the open bed in your room when you get up there."

"Yes ma'am." Harry said with a nod.

She turned and walked back up to the teacher's table where she said something to a weird looking creature that vanished with a pop of displaced air. As soon as it was gone, the old man stood up and raised his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! All of you are hungry so we will do announcements after dinner!" The old man waved his hand and the long tables were suddenly covered in gold plates full of food and goblets full of drink. Harry tried not to gape.

Ron started to grab every bit of food he could get his hands on. Filling his plate with more food than he could possibly eat in one sitting. Sighing, Harry started to grab a few things himself and quickly started to pack it away with a Saotome level of skill. The twins were eyeing him as he ate. A weird look in their eyes.

One thing Ranma believed in was lots of food. One never knew when the next meal would appear so they never wasted an opportunity to eat. Harry noticed that no matter how much he ate the level off food on the table didn't seem to get any lower. So he ate his fill, more than even Ron was eating, and pretended not to notice.

After everyone had time to be well fed, Dumbledore stood up once more and raised his hands to get everyone's attention. "Time for announcements! I'd like to tell all the first years that the forest outside is forbidden to all students! No matter what the reason." He said, staring right at the Twins, Harry noted. They just grinned and pretended to be innocent.

"Next, our caretaker Mr. Filch would like to let everyone know that there is no magic to be performed in the corridors or between classes. This goes for any practical jokes you might have brought along with you." Once again he stared at the twins, who got up and started bowing to everyone, which got a laugh.

"Finally, the third floor corridor on the right side of the castle is off limits unless you want to die a very painful death." Albus Dumbledore said, causing quite a few students to laugh. "Now everyone, it's late and time to head on to bed. Classes will begin the day after tomorrow. Take your free time to get acquainted with the castle."

Harry laughed a little, until he realized that the old man was being serious. Then Percy walked over to them and got all the first year's attention. "All first years follow me."

The boy led them out of the hall as the other tables began to file out a little bit at a time. As they walked through the halls, Harry tried to keep track of where they were going, but Percy seemed to be taking a number of hidden passages. Harry noted that the paintings hanging on the walls, even the tapestries, had scenes and people displayed that could move around on their own.

After a run in with Peeves, a poltergeist, Percy eventually led them down a hallway and stopped in front of a portrait of a rather overweight woman. She gave them all a smile as they crowded around behind Percy. Harry tried to ignore the fact that the fat woman was wearing a pink dress.

"Password?" She asked kindly.

"Sword of Justice." Percy said, muttering something under his breath about it being a stupid password.

oooooooooo

Notes: I considered making Harry a Hufflepuff as a change of pace, but decided against it since I don't know enough about the house to pull it off. I'll leave that up to writers that know more about HP than me. Harry has a bit of a temper in this and it will get him into trouble more than once. It has to do with his time with the Dursleys. Even Ranma hasn't been able to curb Harry's temper, but he's working on it.

Got an small Omake here for you guys. I tend to do Omake's randomly, so I'm not sure when the next one will show up. I've got one other Omake I've done as well, it should show up at the end of the next chapter or the one after.

Omake 01:

As she sat the stool down the hat seemed to come to life, opened it mouth, and suddenly let off a world class belch. Smacked its cloth lips and flopped over, starting to snore. Soon a snot bubble formed amid the loud snores. The students stared at it in shock.

The twins suddenly cracked up and fell to the floor laughing.

"Fred and George Weasley!" Professor McGonagall yelled.

The two boys scrambled to their feet and ran for it, still laughing.


	7. Chapter 7

Notes: Sorry about the mistake I made in chapters 5 an 6. I've edited the scene out of chapter 5. Thanks to everyone that pointed it out to me. Can't believe I did that. :P 

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 07  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

The portrait of the Pink Lady swung open to reveal a large hole in the wall that led to the Gryffindor common room. The whole thing was decorated in red and gold and seemed to sparkle as the nearby wall torches lit the room. Harry counted at least twenty plush arm chairs and several wall couches all around the room. Most of them were well used, but in pretty good shape. Then Percy got their attention again.

All of this was to the left of the portrait hole. To the right was a spiral staircase that led up to the next level. Percy led them up to the next level where the stairs divided, each one leading off in a different direction. Harry could tell the design wouldn't have fit in a normal tower, but this was a magic castle, so he shrugged it off as normal.

"Alright everyone, the girls can head up those stairs on the right. The first year dorm is down the small hall on the right. It's labeled so you can't miss it. Everyone's trunks have already been sent ahead and placed in front of your room." Percy said.

He glanced at Harry for a second. "Boys can not enter the girl's area of the dorm. Wards are in place to make sure of this, so don't even try to go up there. Every year one or two boys try and end up in the hospital wing. The boys dorm is up the other stair case."

After that, Percy had one of the older girls lead the first years girls to their room while he led the boys. They went up a short set of stairs opposite the girls area, turn a corner and headed past several doors. He stopped in front of a heavy oak door and tapped it with his wand. It creaked open to reveal six canopy beds.

"This is where the first years will sleep for the rest of the year. Each year you will be moved into a new dorm. Potter, remember to place your trunk there in front of the bed without a trunk." He said pompously.

Harry smirked at him. "Of course." Glancing around Harry spotted several beds and realized that the boys would all be sleeping in the same room. He glanced around nervously and realized that he'd never shared a bedroom with anyone before.

Even the cursed Dursley's had forced him to sleep in a cupboard by himself, with all the linen and spiders. Not a very good way to grow up, though the spiders would say other wise. They tied him up more than once. Ranma had just given him his own room and let him decorate as he wanted. Harry wasn't to sure what he thought about sharing a room with anyone. The other boys were Ron, Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Some of the boys Harry hadn't really noticed at the Sorting.

At least the beds had curtains around them to provide for a bit of privacy. He looked around, spotted the bed without a trunk in front of it at the end of row. He quickly walked over and pulled out his trunk. Ron and the others watched as they found their own beds.

Harry sat the trunk on the floor and unshrunk it. As he looked at it he realized that if he was going to use the trunk in the way he wanted he would have to set the trunk somewhere else. He glanced around his bed and noticed a spot on his headboard where he could set the trunk. It settled gently into the headboard, fitting snuggly.

"That thing is amazing!" Ron said, admiring it. "Why are you putting it there?"

"Yeah, it belonged to an ancestor of mine. I found it in the family vault at Gringotts." Harry shrugged. "Also, it seems easier to put it there than at the end of the bed."

Ron nodded. "I might do that as well. It seems that the headboards are made for that kind of thing."

"Yep." Harry said. "I wonder if it did anything else?"

Ron shrugged, tossing Scabbers on the bed. The pet rat rolled over and looked like he might be sick. The red headed boy ignored the thing with a huff. "Hard to say."

He quickly opened his trunk, a rather beat up one, and pulled out some pajamas and started dressing for bed. The rat was passed out on the pillow before any of them even got into bed. Harry took a few seconds to make sure the trunk was alright as he shucked off his clothes and also got ready for bed. All he was wearing was a pair of shorts though.

The others could only gape at Harry's muscular body. For an eleven year sold he look like he could cause some damage. They quickly followed suit though, and within a few minutes they were all crawling into bed and drawing the curtains closed.

Harry closed his curtains, but instead of crawling under the covers he opened his trunk. The top opened and front folded outward to reveal the small ladder. It hadn't done this before. He figured it was because of the trunk's position as he descended into the trunk.

"Ranma!"

"In the kitchen."

Harry moved through the door and glanced around. His mentor was sitting at the table leafing through several books from the vault. "What are you doing?"

"Still working on trying to do some magic." Ranma explained.

"You figured something out?"

"Nope."

"Well it's just the first day and they haven't taught us anything yet."

Ranma shrugged. "I learned the hard way that it's best to keep ahead of things. So, why are you wandering around in your drawers?"

"Humph!"

"That good huh? You better get on more than that. I can't tell you the number of times I've been caught wearing next to nothing in front of large packs of girls. Always in my bedroom too."

"I just came down to see if you were alright and to pick up some stuff to wear from my room."

Ranma nodded.

"I'll talk to you later, I think it would be best if I slept in my Hogwarts bed tonight at least. People might start to wonder if I didn't."

oooooooooo

A little while later, just as Harry was dozing off, he could swear he had a dream about falling through a cloud of green energy of some kind. A burst of flaming feathers and the roar of a motorcycle flying through the sky while an eerie laugh filled the background.

After that things got a bit odd as a turban tried to tell him that he needed to transfer to Slytherin where he belonged. It even sneered at him and called him a traitor. A pair of large yellow eyes glared down at him and something hissed his name several times.

He awoke with a start and wondered what the hell that was. Rolling over he went back to sleep after spending several minutes meditating to clear his mind, just as Ranma taught him.

oooooooooo

The sun was just breaking the horizon the next morning when Harry opened his eyes and looked around. The room was just bright enough that he could see that everyone still asleep. Sitting up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and opened his trunk again.

Climbing down he shut the lid behind him and found that he could see out of the many dots that circled the lid of the trunk. He hadn't noticed this feature the last time he came down, but he wasn't looking either. Seconds later, he descended into the first room and made a quick trip to the kitchen. He started fixing a couple of egg sandwiches. After polishing one of them off he took the stairs down to the training room.

Ranma was going through his morning workout. "Morning Harry."

"Sir."

"So what's this school like?"

"We're inside a huge castle full of secret passages, ghosts, and hundreds of people. It's amazing."

"I'll have to explore around a little." Ranma said as he took the other sandwich and ate it in a few bites. "I want to make sure you keep your edge."

"Yes sir." Harry said as Ranma jumped at him.

About forty minutes later Harry exited his trunk, slowly. As always Ranma pushed him to the edge of his endurance and just a little beyond. Harry was just glad that the trunk had a large shower and tub available. He always ended up soaked in sweat after their work outs, though Ranma say he was getting better. He just had to build up his endurance a bit more.

After that they sat down in the living room and discussed some of the material from the first years books. Harry was sure he had a good idea what they would be doing tomorrow when classes started. That didn't stop Ranma from quizzing him from the books.

He answered questions for about half an hour, even pulling out his wand and practicing more of the patterns used for some spells. Ranma even made him perform three of the twelve wand kata they developed over the summer. "Well Harry, that's good enough for this morning. You seem to be getting this stuff down and you can concentrate on perfecting it all over the next few months."

Harry nodded as he stood up and stretched. "If you don't mind, I'm going to head back up and see if the others are awake yet."

"Sounds good. I'm going to finish my own practice and finish going through those books."

"Which ones are you looking through?"

"Something about wandless magic. I think it's the key to using magic with Ki." Ranma explained. "That book I was reading earlier talked about theory and practice. I'm going to try and see if it works."

"Cool." Harry said as he headed for the entrance and the ladder.

"Have fun."

"I hope so." For now he wanted to take a look around and see what the school had to offer. He quickly dressed in his robes, which he noticed had acquired the Gryffindor house patch on the chest. This magic stuff was going to take a while to get used to if it kept this up.

He quickly found that he would have problems fighting in the robes, but luckily he was strong though to rip his way through them if he needed to. Hopefully he wouldn't ever have to do that except as a last resort. Hopefully he could learn some spells that would allow him to quickly adapt when he needed to. A few minutes later he donned his glasses and headed down stairs.

Harry reached into his robe and pulled out his potions book. He'd already read it a few times already, but since they had the day off to get acquainted with the castle he had a couple of things to look into. Several of the older students were already in the common room talking. They didn't say anything to him as he came down though.

He found a nearby chair and sat down to go through the book a little more. Of all the books he had, this was the only one that seemed to require the student to memorize ever fact and recipe in the book. Some of it seemed to be to complicated. Then there was the ingredient list. Thousands of weeds, scales, plants, and animal parts. All of them that could do one thing or another when mixed.

No matter how often he looked through the book his mind would balk at memorizing the book's contents. Even using the method that Ranma taught him didn't seem to make the process easier. He was rubbing his eyes a little while later when he heard someone call his name.

"Hey Harry."

He looked up as Ron came downstairs. The boy yawned for several seconds as he stumbled over to a chair, spun around, and fell into it. "How can you even function at this time in the morning?"

"Been doing it for years." Harry said and shrugged. "Want to head down to the hall and get breakfast?"

"Yeah." The boy said, suddenly jumping up and heading for the portal.

Shaking his head, Harry followed after him. "Do you remember how to get there?"

Ron stopped. "Bugger."

"Ask your brothers." Harry suggested.

"Oh right, let's ask the practical jokers how to get somewhere. We'd end up in the girls bathroom in the Ravenclaw room after wandering around for over two hours." Ron said with a loud sigh.

"What about Percy?"

Ron gave him a look that said 'are you crazy?' and shook his head. "That git has been insufferable ever since he got that stupid badge of his. He won't let anyone forget that he's a Prefect now. He buffs it with his sock before he attaches it to his robes in the morning."

"Shouldn't they give us a map of this place so we don't get lost?"

"I've never heard of them doing anything like that." Ron said.

"Well maybe we just have to ask for one." Harry said eyeing the older students, but they didn't seem to be paying any attention to them.

"From who?"

"McGonagall?" He suggested.

"I guess, she is our head of house." Ron said with a shrug. "Right now I don't care. I just want food."

They stepped out of the portal and looked around, completely lost. "Why did this place have to be so complicated to find?"

Some time later they were on the seventh floor and Harry looked as if he was ready to punch the wall. Even the portraits were trying to give him a wide birth if they could. Ron just looked like he wanted to gnaw on something as they kept taking a wrong turn. What was worse was that they couldn't find any of the other students.

"It's got to be ten by now." Harry said as they found another empty classroom filled with dust.

"This all your fault." Ron muttered as they looked around.

Harry just rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah yeah, I heard you the first few times."

As they were leaving Harry spotted something at the back of the room and walked over to take a closer look. There, buried in the dust, was a leather bound book. He picked it up and wiped the dust off the cover and read the barely legible title. "Long Forgotten Jinxes and Curses."

"What was that?" Ron asked.

"This book."

The red head walked over and took a look at it. "Hey, that thing is a rare book. It was just sitting there?"

"Yeah."

"Keep it, that thing is expensive. My older brother has a copy for his curse breaking job and had to spend a small fortune on it."

"Cool, we can share it then." Harry said as he flipped through it a little. The pages were still easy to read and looked almost as if it was brand new.

"There's a charm on it to keep it in good shape." Ron explained.

Harry nodded. "I hadn't thought of that. Must be my muggle upbringing or something."

"Maybe." Ron muttered and shrugged.

As they stepped out of the room they headed down the hall, turned the corner and suddenly found themselves right in front of the great hall. Shouting, The two of them headed inside for breakfast. Harry spent several minutes looking through the book while he ate another breakfast.

A Saotome, even adopted, never turned down a meal. Even on their death bed, covered in bandages, or on the run from amorous female amazons. According to Ranma anyway.

oooooooooo

Because they had missed most of the early morning breakfast the day before, the whispers didn't start following Harry around until the next morning. They also found out that if they had waited for one of the Prefects to get up, they would have gotten a better tour of the castle on the way to breakfast.

Harry was a little irritated that no one bothered to tell them about this until after the fact. Getting back to the common room had taken nearly as long as finding the great hall. By which time Harry was in a very bad mood and growling at everyone.

Ron just kept his distance.

By the time Harry left his trunk this morning, once again walking slowly, Ron was back to normal. His stomach was growling and wanted to get to the great hall as quickly as he could. Food would always come first. That was why Harry had to put up with the whispers as they entered the great hall.

"There He is!"

"Which one?"

"That one, with the glasses and the messy hair."

"I've seen better."

"Who cares, did you see that scar? It's so cool!"

Normally it wasn't this bad, but when people started to form groups and follow him around and comment on him as if he couldn't hear was when he started to get irritated. People would stand on tip toe so they could gawk at him as he walked down the hall. Whispering with their friends loud enough to be heard by everyone within twenty yards. It got worse when people would use the secret passages to get in front of him to get a second chance to gawk.

He ignored it as best he could, but the groups seemed to just appear wherever he was at the time. They just seemed to appear from out of nothing. He noticed that the teachers were watching him too, though they were a bit more discrete about it. This was odd because they didn't seem to understand that he wanted it to stop.

Instead they just smiled at him. Or in Professor Snape's case, sneer and give a death glare. The only one that didn't seem to care about Harry, was Professor Quirrell. Once the teachers were out of sight the groups would pop up again yelling about autographs and such.

For a few seconds he considered attacking one of the groups. Just to get them off his back, but was forced to back down when they reached the great hall. Then the whispering spread through the room before he could even sight down. Why was the only person that would show him even a little respect, was Ranma? Growling, no one noticed as one of the nearby pitchers of pumpkin juice started to boil over.

He plopped himself down at the Gryffindor table and hunched over, holding his head in his hands for a couple of minutes. He used this time to count to a hundred and calm down before he started to grab some food. Eating a light breakfast, he quickly exited the room, headed for the front gate of the castle, and made his way outside.

The counting hadn't helped him much and he needed to work off some steam. From there he could work on ignoring the rest of the students and maybe come up with a way to make them leave him alone. He just hoped they would leave him be once he was outside.

Not that he believed it for a second.

It only took him a few minutes to make his way down to the edge of the lake. Once there he took off his robe. He was wearing a pair of loose pants and a muscle shirt underneath. Rolling his robe into a ball, he tossed it to the side, and started to run through some moves. He had a lot of anger to work off and this was the best way to do it.

Snarling, he was soon throwing punches, kicking, and jumping around at a rapid pace. Sometime he was on the ground, a whirlwind of movement. Or he would jump into the air and seem to hanger there for several seconds, moving faster than the eye could see.

His punches were cracking the air as he pushed himself to the edge of his abilities, a slight glow radiating form his body. Even after his morning practice with Ranma, Harry found that he had tons of energy left for this second work out. However, Ranma would scold him for letting his anger get the better of him. He just didn't really have a better way to get rid of it at the moment.

"MR. POTTER!"

Startled, he spun around in mid air and saw that Professor McGonagall was stalking over to him looking quite put out. He landed wrong, dropped, and did a few rolls before coming back to his feet. Shaking his head and dusting his clothing off, he nodded to her. "Yes?"

"What are doing?"

"Working out."

"This is not the time or place for this foolishness! You have classes today and will be late if you don't hurry." She scolded him.

Harry shrugged. "I'll be there, I still have half an hour or so."

"Well get your robe and head to class." She said. "And don't forget your books."

"Yes ma'am." Harry said and realized he must have messed up.

His anger was still just below the surface though. Just waiting to be released once more. He hated all the attention he seemed to attract, and he was really beginning to wonder if this place was worth all the fuss these people were making to bring him here. This was only the second day and he felt like a caged animal.

Ranma was interested in finding a cure for his curse, but Harry was already starting to wonder if this place was worth the hassle. His magic just made him stand out even more and he didn't like it one bit.

As he was headed back to school he noticed that over half the school was there gawking at him. Sighing, he glared at them for a few seconds as he walked up the front doors. Several of the Slytherins were standing there blocking his way into the school.

"Always got to be the center of attention don't you." Malfoy sneered at him.

"You want to start a fight Malfoy? Then attack me, if not, shut your trap and keep those opinions to yourself." Harry snapped back.

"Potter! Get to class now!" McGonagall yelled, making Malfoy back down.

Harry growled again, clenched his fists, and turned to glare at the woman who seemed to be oblivious to the fact that Harry couldn't get through the wall of people in front of the door. "How?"

"Excuse me?"

"How?" He asked, gesturing at all the people blocking the doorway.

She looked at all the people. "All of you, off to class. NOW!"

No one moved for several seconds, but after that it was a stampede of people as they ran off. The only one's left after that was Malfoy and his two body guards, who were watching Harry. For some reason the two large boys reminded him of his cousin Dudley. Big and dumb.

The Boy Who Lived controlled his near boiling anger, not even jumping as a nearby brick suddenly exploded. The Slytherins flinched as little pieces of rock rained down on them as Harry passed by all of them and back into the school. Behind them McGonagall frowned at them all in disapproval.

As they all vanished into the school she turned to look at a dark corner. "Well?"

"I've never seen anything quite like it before." Dumbledore said as he appeared from out of the shadows.

"He's angry."

"Indeed. I don't think he's dealing with his fame very well. I could feel his anger building as he approached the great hall. It got worse once he arrived. It's why he got up and left before you passed out the schedules."

"I'm not sure what to do with him."

"I think you just made him angrier by treating him that way, Minerva."

She huffed. "I doubt that, he just needs to find a way to channel all that anger."

Albus nodded. "We'll have to think of something. Remember what Hagrid told us about his early life. The Dursley's were quite abusive. That's probably where most of his anger comes from."

"Maybe." Minerva conceded.

"Let's give him a few days to get used to things. Can you talk to him and see if you can calm him down?"

She nodded. "I'm just not sure what to do with a student like that Albus. He did something on the train that scared Mr. Malfoy and those two students that follow him around. Scared them so bad that they had to be forced to get off the train when it arrived."

"Don't jump to conclusions just yet Minerva, he just got here. Let's give a few days at least, at most a few weeks."

"He's got so much anger in him Albus. He could be a danger to the other students."

"It'll work out." Albus said.

oooooooooo

Notes: I originally had Minerva treating Harry like Snape usually does. She was snappish, rude, and insulting. As I read over it though it just didn't fit the character type I wanted, so I made her concerned about Harry's anger instead. Most eleven year olds, when they get angry they lash out and that's it. With Harry, it seems to simmer. This is, of course, because of what he did on the train. The after effects of that Aura of Anger are still affecting him a couple of days later. Of course, Snape isn't going to help matters either.

oooooooooo

Omake

The cat gave a hell of a chase, but the red headed demons finally managed to chase her down. Fred grinned as he held up a Mrs. Norris

"Brother, a unique opportunity awaits us." George said as they rode the staircase to the third floor corridor.

"What might that be?" Fred asked, grinning a grin that said he knew exactly what was about to happen.

They giggled as they snuck down the corridor, right to the locked door at the end. One pulled a wand and pointed it at the door, it gave a little click and slowly swung inwards. They stepped inside as the massive form of a three headed dog rose up and glared at them.

Fred held Mrs. Norris up to his face and grinned. "You're about to make history."

"Yes indeed, brother mine. That is one lucky cat." George said. They cackled, then George cast a spell on the cat, and tossed it into the room. She landed just as the door shut.

"That spell will hold?"

"She won't get a scratch."

They giggled.

WOOOOF! WOOOOF! WOOOOF!

ooooo

Later that night Filch is in Dumbledore's office. "But sir!"

"Mrs. Norris will be fine." Albus said. "She just fainted."

Filch holds up Mrs. Norris. She's stiff as a board, eyes nearly popping out of her head, and every inch of fur standing straight up. The caretaker is waving her around by the tail. "You call this fine?"


	8. Chapter 8

Notes: This chapter is a bit later than my others, by about four days or so. Not to bad, but I did a bit more expansion on this than some of the others. Snape also needed to be ajusted a bit. I also tried to do better job on Hagrid's accent, let me know if it works a bit better now.

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 08  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

There were times when Harry was a bit shocked at his own actions. Ever since the Dursleys, his anger would always cause him problems. He learned early that keeping his head down and doing what he was told was the best way to keep out of trouble. It only worked when he could fade into the background. Missing dinner with his family, a bit of starvation, was usually better than the beatings he used to endure at their hands.

His Aunt had never hurt him physically, but she certainly got into a habit of ignoring him. He couldn't recall the number of times they went to the park when he was younger and she would just wander off with her son Dudley. She usually left him by the lake or a fountain. He would be forced to walk home and get a beating for getting lost.

It taught him to keep out of everyone's way. He figured this was why he didn't like his fame. The more he thought about it the more convinced he became that it was the root cause of his agitation. This was only the second day of school, people were staring at him, and he kept thinking that his Uncle Vernon was going to show up. Harry knew he was being irrational too.

Back then, he had been too small to understand that he was being abused. All he understood was that he hated his family and his heart told him that hating family was wrong, but just being around his Aunt and Uncle made him scared and angry. They never gave him a chance and turned the littlest things into excuses to beat him or punish him in some way.

As he stalked back to the Gryffindor tower he didn't really pay attention to anything around him, but he eventually made his way up to his room. He passed Ron on the stairs and didn't say anything when he called out to him. Harry sat down on top of his bed and spent fifteen minutes in deep meditation to bring his anger under control. One thing Ranma always stressed was that he could be as angry as he wanted, but if he allowed it to get in the way during a fight it could have deadly results.

After listening to several examples about people with weird names, like Herb, Saffron, and some dork named Ryo; Harry took the lesson to heart. He came to the conclusion that his fame was just a pain, he couldn't do anything about it either. Therefore, he would have to find a way to just accept it and move on before it caused him problems. By the time he opened his eyes he was much calmer and an aura of confidence radiated from his eyes.

He remembered the time that Ranma had taken a year to break him of his habit of hating himself for the actions of others. Aunt Petunia and his Uncle nearly drove him to suicide with their actions and was one of the reasons Ranma took Harry from them. These days Harry didn't hate himself and was more than willing to fight for what he believed in.

A little too willing to fight at times.

Climbing off the bed he quickly grabbed his books and made sure his wand was still in the inner pocket of his robe. He walked out of the portal a few minutes later and made his way to his first class of the day, Transfiguration. He met up with the class a couple of minutes later and entered the classroom. He was determined to put his anger behind him for the rest of the day and just enjoy school and learn a few things.

He started thinking about the people teaching at the school. The teachers for the school were quite the eccentric lot. They seemed to be quite different from people in personality and looks. For example, the History of Magic teacher was ghost and was obsessed with Goblin Rebellions. Harry wondered if there was any truth to the rumor that the man was killed by a Goblin. Another teacher was Flitwick who taught the magic of charms and was incredibly short and loud.

Transfiguration was taught by McGonagall and she had a reputation for being strict, but fair to the students. At least according to a couple of older students Harry talked to the night before. Harry saw her walk into the room and look for him almost instantly. Now that she was in front of the class she seemed to have altered her views a bit. He wasn't sure what to think of her at the moment. After what she said to him earlier, he wasn't willing to trust her yet. She seemed to be one of those people that wouldn't change their opinion no matter how much evidence was presented.

"This class is the most difficult subject you will take at Hogwarts. It takes lots of time, practice, and a good imagination. If you aren't here to learn the subject then you can leave. If you screw around in my class I will throw you out. Now make up your minds, stay or leave." She snapped at them, glaring at every one of them to see if they would take her up on the threat.

Harry just gazed back at her calmly. He wasn't about to let a challenge like that get the better of him. Ranma would kick his ass if he tried to turn the challenge down. The teacher just nodded a little as she moved onto the next student, as if she was reading his mind.

"This is an example of what all of you will be capable of doing eventually. Now pay attention." She said sternly.

Then she took her wand out and transformed her desk into a big lazy dog that just looked at them, rolled over, and went back to sleep. Harry was amazed that he could feel some kind of life force coming from the dog and was impressed by the feat. Instead of learning that though, McGonagall passed out a match to teach of them their first lesson.

"To do transfiguration you must learn to stand before you walk. We will take this in steps and by the end of the year you will have a clearer idea what Transfiguration truly is. Now pay attention." She sat a large dowel in the table in front of her and pointed her wand at it. The thing slowly turned into a large needle. "That's how it's done."

From there they spent the next couple of hours trying to turn the simple match into a needle. For some reason the transformation was a lot harder to do than anyone thought. McGonagall went around the room clarifying and encouraging all the students. She gave helpful hints but never clarified anything. By the end of the class no one had managed to pull it off, but Harry and a couple of others had turned there matches into metal. Harry would ask Ranma about it later and see if he had any tips that might help. He had an idea what he was doing wrong, but wanted to practice a little more.

Ron wasn't in a good mood by the time the class was over, so Harry kept to himself mostly and let Ron rant and rave under his breath. A quick check of his schedule showed that the class after that was with Professor Quirrell, Defense Against the Dark Arts, something a lot of students were looking forward to. It was also the biggest disappointment. The teacher was an idiot could barely talk, and miss cast several spells. Harry could tell that he was going to be putting his book reading to many practical uses over the next few months.

Everyone was glad to get out of the class by the time it ended. Most of them were tired of listening to the constant stuttering of the fool. He did make a point to write down the spells that were taught, he found them in his book, and spent a couple of hours going over them later. After that, he made sure no one was around and made his way into the trunk after making sure to shut the curtains on his bed.

"Ranma!"

"What's up kid?" Ranma asked from the one spot where Harry seemed to always find him these days, in the kitchen. He was making a very large sandwich with about six different layers of meat.

"Do you know if those meditation techniques will work for magic?"

Ranma handed Harry a bowl of rice, part of the sandwich, and sat down at the counter. "I would think so."

"I didn't want try it without getting your okay." Harry said. "That little incident with the water a couple years ago taught me that."

Ranma laughed nervously. "Good idea. Give it a try."

"I don't have the match anymore."

"Then use something else. The books say that you need to build up your magical strength for Transfiguration so that it can turn anything into something else. The match is just what the teacher uses. Use a shoe lace or a hair."

Nodding, Harry decided to use his chop stick to make a large needle. Taking out his wand, he was about to start, when Ranma interrupted him.

"Harry, run through the wand Kata I taught you and focus your mind. Once you finish you should be in the right frame of mind."

Harry got up, stepped away from the table, and slowly went through the moves three times before he felt himself enter his center. He instantly felt more relaxed and focused, exactly what he wanted. If he hadn't done this a couple of times before he might have been shocked when he felt his magic bubbling away inside him. Reaching for it, he brought his wand around, pointed it at the chopstick, and muttered the spell.

Ten seconds later he relaxed and sighed. The chopstick was still a chop stick and it hadn't even changed color. "I don't understand."

Ranma stood up and walked over. "What did you do different that you did in class? I could sense the energy surging as you tried to do the spell so you were doing something right."

"Noth…" Harry started, and then realized his mistake. "I think I understand."

"Then do it again."

Taking a deep breath Harry ran through the simple move again, found his center, and let the magic fill his body. Then he channeled a bit down his arm and pictured the chopstick turning into a needle just as he said the spell. The two of them watched as a large needle slowly formed.

Picking it up, Ranma examined the needle and flung it at the wall. It embedded nearly an inch. "Good job! And you can make an effective weapon now so that's even better. Once you get this mastered you can learn how to do it without being dependent on the wand."

Harry nodded, grinning. "McGonagall didn't tell us how were supposed to channel our magic. That's why I was having problems."

"Some teachers forget to tell their students the simplest of things. My old man used to do that all the time. It took me years to understand some of the things he told me about because he expected me to just know it all. It got quite irritating at times." Ranma explained as he fingered the large needle.

"I'll have to explain this to Ron and the others. I don't recall reading about that bit of useful knowledge in the books either."

"It wasn't."

They watched at the large needle slowly turned back into wood a few seconds later. It looked like it wasn't even scratched or roughed up in anyway. Ranma pulled it out of the wall and handed it back to Harry. "Practice one hundred times, there are more chopsticks in the box over there."

Harry would have groaned, but knew if he did, Ranma could make him do it five hundred times. Ranma's motto, don't complain, just do it.

"Practice makes perfect!" Ranma said. "Then I want you to try to turn the chopstick into a ball or a square."

"Yes sir." Harry said. "I'm going to finish lunch first."

"Hey good idea, I was feeling a little hungry myself." Ranma said. "Maybe another sandwich."

oooooooooo

The next morning Harry was in a lot better mood. After all that hard practice he got the needle down and could do it almost instantly with any object. This exhausted him magically, but it allowed him to sleep better than he had in days. Even better, people weren't gawking at him as much.

On top of that, he and Ron managed to make it down to the Great Hall without getting lost once. Harry considered this a miracle in itself. Ron was reading their schedule for the day as they had a large breakfast.

"What's first again?" Harry asked.

"Double Potions. I've heard some bad things about the teacher from Fred and George."

Harry stopped stuffing his face and gave his friend a look. "Such as?"

"He's head of Slytherin house and they told me that he's the biggest jerk they've ever met."

"He's a teacher, so I doubt that. He's probably just tough on the students."

"Well I don't take anything Fred and George say to seriously anymore. It's usually a prank with them anyway." Ron said with a shrug, but I've noticed that a lot of people want to avoid the class.

Harry eyed him for a second. "I hope it isn't that bad. After yesterday I just want a normal day."

"I hear ya, mate." Ron agreed.

They looked up as about fifty owls flew into the Hall to deliver the morning mail. Harry was surprised when his own owl Hedwig dove down and landed on his shoulder. Being a pure while owl she was a little hard to miss among all the other owls. She had a letter tied to her leg and seemed overly pleased with herself.

Harry laughed a little as he took the note and gave her a little of his breakfast as payment. From the side Ron eyed the note curiously as Harry read it.

"What's that?"

"Note from Hagrid. He wants me to stop by on Friday during the afternoon."

"Good thing we have that time off." Ron said.

"That's what he says here. It's the best time for me to visit him without getting in trouble."

"Cool."

After writing a quick reply, Harry sent Hedwig back into the air and finished his meal. That left him to think about the upcoming class. Harry recalled that at the Start of Term banquet that Snape seemed to dislike him. He could recall the man scowling at him and making Harry uncomfortable. All he needed was some excuse to deck the guy.

He wondered what the class was going to bring. He had a bad feeling about it, the same type he got when Ranma looked at him during a practice session and took it up a notch or introduced him to some other odd form of training. Harry was officially worried, but didn't want to mention anything to Ron.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Harry muttered.

They got up and headed down into the dungeons where the class took place. Harry's first impression was that it was cold, dank, and way to dark to be lit by useless torches that didn't give off enough light or heat. They were all at their tables when Snape came in and took a quick roll call.

Harry could feel the tension in the air triple the instant the man saw Harry's name on the roll. The man, still dressed in those pitch black robes looked up at Harry with pure hatred in his eyes. "Potter."

"Here."

"You may as well leave; you aren't going to going to pass this class because you're famous." He snarled.

Harry was too shocked to say anything as the man finished taking roll. Off to the side several of the Slytherins were laughing. The tension officially turned to loathing as the long haired man turned to glare at the class. Then he turned to look at Harry once more.

"Potter, the resident Celebrity." Snape sneered. "What would I get if I mixed powdered root of asphodel and a bit of Wormwood?"

"I don't know sir, perhaps you should teach us?" Harry snapped. He wouldn't put up with this kind of treatment. He even knew the answer, but he sure as hell wasn't going to give this git the satisfaction. Hell, he wouldn't give the moron the time of day.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor!" Snape said and smiled evilly.

Harry didn't even blink. He could care less about the house points and was starting to get angry again. Staring into the man's eyes allowed Harry to focus and reach for his center again. When that happened something odd happened.

The potions master looked away, a hint of fear in his eyes. Harry decided right then and there that he would learn how to stay within his center at all times if he had to, just to survive this class. He didn't know that several of the students around him suddenly backed away an aura formed around him. Their robes rippled under the power being generated.

"Can't even open your book and read Potter." Snape snapped. "Another twenty points from Gryffindor for being an idiot! Asphodel and Wormwood are used to create the Draught of Living Death."

It was official, Harry was seriously thinking about leaving the school completely. The day before he had put up with people following him everywhere he went. They were even talking about him behind his back. Now one of the teachers seemed to be trying to make his life hell again. He put up with this crap when he was with the Dursley's but he wouldn't tolerate it here.

He hated bullies with a passion and usually went to some effort to make sure they never bullied again. This man was going to pay for treating him like this.

"WRITE IT DOWN!" Snape yelled. "Ten more points from Gryffindor for ignoring me!" By this time the Slytherins were openly laughing at Harry and the Gryffindors. Snape didn't do a thing to stop it.

Harry slowly stood up from his seat and Snape had to stop himself from moving back a few steps. Then Harry slowly reached into his robe and pulled out a bit of parchment and a quill to write down what Snape was saying. On the inside Harry was already making plans of his own. Ranma would be more than willing to help him out as well.

By the time the class was over Gryffindor lost over one hundred and fifty points. Thirty points were taken because Harry was breathing, apparently. Fifty went up in smoke when Neville Longbottom managed to screw up a potion to cure boils and melt his cauldron.

Ron was physically holding Harry back by the time they left the classroom and had a hard time looking at Harry, whose eyes were glowing with fury. "Don't do anything, or it will just be worse."

Nodding, Harry restrained himself from belting one of the convenient suits of armor standing along the hallway. Shaking off Ron's hand Harry forced himself to forget about the potions teacher. "Want to come with me down to Hagrid's hut?"

"Sure."

"I need some fresh air anyways. I have some things to consider if this is the kind of treatment I'm going to receive from the teachers."

Ron gave him a worried look, but didn't say anything.

They made a quick stop at the great hall to each lunch. After that, they took about an hour to do their homework before setting out for Hagrid's place. According to the directions, his house was near the edge of the Forbidden Forest and they quickly spotted it as they stepped outside. Harry noticed that there was a massive crossbow leaning against the house, nearly as tall as they were.

"Whoa." Ron said as they looked at it. "That thing is huge."

"It's a Siege weapon." Harry explained. "My guardian explained it to me several years ago and had me memorize the various kinds of weapons and their weaknesses."

Ron gaped at him. "Wicked."

Raising his hand, Harry knocked and had to jump back as the door flew open and a large dog poked its head out and barked at them. Hagrid's large hand grabbed the dog's collar and pulled him back inside. "Back Fang! Back!"

"Hiya kids."

They nodded and stepped inside as Hagrid pulled the dog to the side. Once the door was shut, the massive thing flopped over and went right to sleep a few feet from the fire place.

"Lazy mutt!" Hagrid said and patted its stomach. The tail wagged lazily.

Hagrid's hut was one large room, it had the fire place, a large chair, a table and a giant bed set towards the back covered in a quilt. They eyed everything as the larger than life man started to pour them some tea. "So Harry, 'ow's school going?"

Harry snorted and growled under his breath.

"That bad?" Hagrid said as he handed them some tea and sat down in his chair. It groaned under the man's weight.

"The Transfiguration teacher seems to dislike me for some reason and hasn't said a nice thing to me yet, the students stare at me, and the potions teacher wants me dead. So, no problems at all." Harry growled.

"Blimey Harry, what did you do to them?" Hagrid asked as he rubbed his beard nervously and noticed Ron. "Yer a Weasley?"

Ron nodded.

"I knows yer brothers. Nice to meetcha!" The man said and grabbed Ron's hand to pump it a few times. For a few moments there Ron wondered if he was about to lose his arm.

"So I take it you avne't been avin a good time of it?" Hagrid asked Harry.

"Not really. I'm seriously considering going home. I don't need this place that much." Both Ron and Hagrid were surprised to hear this and looked quite saddened by it. Harry didn't notice.

"But 'arry, you need to learn yer magic." Hagrid said. "Plus yer parents went 'ere."

"I can't even recall what my parents look like." Harry snapped. "In the last two days I've been attacked, belittled, and insulted from the time I wake up till the time I go to bed by the very teachers of this school."

"Dumbledore wouldn't do that to yeh." Hagrid said and Ron nodded.

Shrugging, Harry looked away. "The only class where no one did anything to me was Charms and even then Flitwick took one look at me and fell off his chair with a squeak of shock. Then there's Snape, the git hates me so much that he took…"

"Professor Snape does not 'ate ya!" Hagrid yelled. "He doesn't like anyone! So you get that thought out of yer 'ead."

Now Harry had to give Hagrid a weird look, which the large man avoided by looking at Ron. "Yeah right."

"So Ron, how's yer Brother Charlie." Hagrid asked, his voice a little higher than normal. "He was great with animals…"

"Charlie's in Romania right now." Ron explained.

Ignoring the two for a second, Harry looked to the side and saw the paper open to an article about a recent break in at Gringotts Bank. Harry checked the date and gasped. "Hagrid, this break in happened on my birthday, the day we were there!"

Grunting, Hagrid offered them more tea. Then he ushered them out of the house and shut the door with a friendly wave goodbye. Harry suddenly remembered that Hagrid had emptied a vault that day as well. The little package that he stuffed in his pocket. Was that the same vault that was robbed? The paper didn't give the vault number, but Harry was sure of it.

"You best be gettin back to the castle." Hagrid said, taking the paper from him.

"But?" Harry said.

"Get going." Hagrid rumbled pushed them out the door before Harry could say anymore.

Ron gave Harry a look. "That was weird."

"Yeah, but why would he want us to leave so suddenly?"

"Got me." Ron shrugged.

Several thoughts ran through Harry's mind as they walked back to the castle. Hagrid seemed to know more of what was going on than he was willing to let on, that was for sure. The giant man knew something about Snape as well, something that he didn't want to talk about. What did the man pull from that vault and why was it so valuable?

"Well we have the afternoon off now, want to play exploding snap?" Ron asked.

"Sure, once you tell me what that is."

Ron laughed. "Sure, it's dead easy."

Harry nodded as they headed for Gryffindor Tower.

oooooooooo

Notes: Ah Snape, don't you just feel the love? Heh. He's actually a bit meaner than normal here, but it's for a reason that will eventually be explained in a later chapter. Harry won't be leaving school, but his actions with the people around him will be quite different as the story goes on.

Ranma isn't going to take to kindly to the way Snape is acting around Harry. Just wait till next chapter to see what Snape's actions will cause. If there is one thing that Ranma won't tolerate, it's abuse of any kind. Not after what he suffered through during his own childhood.

oooooooooo

Omake:

Hagrid grabbed Fang's collar and pulled the large dog back into the shack. "Back Fang, Back!"

Harry opened his mouth to say hi just as Fang made a weird sound, pulled out of Hagrid's grip, and jumped at the large man.

"Fang! Bad boy! Down I say!" Hagrid yelled as the dog latched onto the man's leg and started to hump it. It barked, happily, tongue lolling out.

"Down!" Hagrid yelled as he tried to yank the large dog off. "No, don't do that!"

Fang started to go to town. Humpa Humpa Humpa!

Hagrid looked mortified as Harry and Ron rolled around on the ground about died laughing.


	9. Chapter 9

Notes: I have no problem with people criticizing my work, it's natural and expected, but what I don't understand is when I when I get a certain type of review. A complaint about something not included in the story. What's the use complaining about that when the story isn't even complete yet?

I mean, Ranma's history in this fic will be explained by several flash backs, just look below and you will see the first of several that will eventually explain why Ranma is in England, why his fiancée's aren't around, and the whole nine yards. You wouldn't believe the type of Rant I want to write on this subject. I'll resist the urge for now, but give me some credit for having enough brainpower to consider these things.

Must…resist…urge to…rant… 

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 09  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

-Seven years ago-

The Grandmaster of Anything Goes, Happosai, sat on the table in the Tendo's dining room smoking his pipe. At just over three feet, he was one of the shortest people in the room. He was also around three hundred years old, but he didn't look a day over a hundred. An invisible aura of perversion surrounded him at all times.

Kneeling around the table were an assortment of people from Ranma Saotome's life. Ranma himself, was sitting at the end of the table watching the old man, just waiting for the old fart to pull out a bucket of water to splash him an turn him into a girl. The curse of Jusenkyo would always make Ranma keep his guard up around the old fart.

At Eighteen Ranma had finally taken on the look of an adult in both his forms. His body was perfectly proportioned, no hint of body fat, or scars marred his looks in anyway.

Beside Ranma was his mother, a tall red headed woman with dark red hair. Then came the Tendo sisters Akane, Nabiki, and Kasumi. On the other side of the table Ukyo Kounji, Shampoo, Cologne, and Kodachi Kuno sat watching the scene before them.

Akane, Ukyo, and Shampoo were Ranma's Fiancées. Ranma never asked for any of them. Akane had short black hair and a nearly uncontrollable temper. The next one, Ukyo, was a cook with long black hair that liked to wear boyish clothing. Then there was the Amazon Shampoo, very cute, and thought that Ranma was already married to her.

None of them treated Ranma all that well and rarely listened to him in anyway. Ranma had grown tired of the treatment over the last two years as the girls fought over him for the littlest of reasons. Usually by jumping to one conclusion or another that led to fits of jealously. Ranma was simply tired of it all.

That was why Ranma was here today. He had finally challenged his father and Mr. Tendo for the title of Master. The two men hadn't taken that challenge very well and had tried to use it to force him to marry Akane. Something the two fools always did. Ranma broke out of his thoughts as Happosai thumped him on the head with his pipe.

"Well Ranma." Happosai began. "Have you performed your first service to me?"

"Yeah." Ranma snapped and pointed out into the back yard where the beaten bodies of Soun and Genma were laying. Smoke appeared to be wafting off both men as they lay there unconscious. "I defeated them."

Happosai nodded. "Excellent. After all this time I had thought you didn't ever want to become a master of the style."

"But Grandpa, Ranma beats his father on a daily basis." Nabiki pointed out. "Hasn't he been a Master ever since he could do that regularly?"

He shook his head. "No, but Ranma has never challenged Genma for his next level until now. Though I did expect better of Genma."

Ranma snorted. "The old man knows all my tricks and moves, he's harder to beat than you would think, but he's still a moron."

"Indeed, defeating the teacher is always harder than a random opponent Ranma." Happosai cackled. He reached into his bag, pulled out a scroll, and gave to Ranma. "This Ranma is your license to train others in our style. I expect great things from you my boy."

Bowing his head, reluctantly, Ranma took the scroll and carefully opened it as his mother watched proudly. "I am honored."

"Now, you need to prove to me that you can actually teach someone."

"What do you mean by that?" Ranma growled.

"This is but the next step Ranma." Happosai said. "My style is so much more than what you have been shown till now. Genma never reached the next level. He and Soun locked me in that cave before I could show them, so their training faltered and stopped. They gave up everything because they didn't have the strength to go to the next level."

Off to the side Cologne, Shampoo's great grandmother and nearly as old as Happosai himself, rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath, but no one seemed to hear her. Off to the side Nabiki smirked a little as she wondered where the old Master was going with all this. She had to find some way to profit from this situation.

Ranma was a bit mystified as well as he considered what the old man was saying. "Are you saying that my training isn't finished?"

"That's up to you Ranma." Happosai said, looking smug. "Are you strong enough to take on the next challenge, or do I look else where for my Heir while you stay here and teach for the next few decades?"

"I can take on anything old man!" Ranma yelled and slapped the table.

"Ranma, calm down and listen to him." Nodoka said.

Happosai cackled some more. "Well Ranma?"

"I can do it!" Ranma insisted. "Just try me old man."

"Oh really? Even a Mastery Quest?"

Everyone gasped and gave the old man a bit more respect.

"Grandpa Happosai, those aren't done anymore." Kasumi said. "They were banned because they were too dangerous. Nearly everyone that sent on a quest ended up dead."

The old man snorted. "They died because they were sent to soon. Ranma should have been sent on his quest the day after he defeated Saffron. That was the day he proved his skill in battle. Genma has been fighting me on this and doesn't want Ranma to leave."

All of Ranma's fiancée's nodded, though they didn't say anything. They just glared at each other covertly.

Nodoka took over from there. "Ranma, at the moment you can't leave on the quest because of the fiancée mess your father created, but I've been thinking about that and I've come up with a solution to the whole thing."

Ranma turned to his mother in shock. Every time someone interfered his life went to hell. "Mom, I don't know…"

"Hear me out son." She insisted.

"A-alright."

"The girls and I have talked on several occasions over the last couple of months and come to some hard decisions. The biggest one is how they all view you son."

Ranma nodded nervously.

"Ranma, I've talked to my dad and he says that so long as I become a Saotome he will let the engagement slide. He wants me to come home." Ukyo said.

"But I…" Ranma started.

"Hush Ranma." His mother said.

Ukyo continued a second later, although she looked like she was eating a sour lemon. "Your mother has offered to adopt me into the clan to make me a Saotome."

He nodded dumbly, more than a little shocked and a little relieved. "Uh…okay."

Akane growled. "I've told you for years that I don't want to marry you and I will stand by that. With my father out cold in the back yard I can finally say what I want."

Kodachi gazed at him in a slightly deranged, her eyes completely filled with lust, look. "I want my Ranma-sama."

Ranma shuddered. Kodachi could give anyone the creeps.

This just made Nodoka beam at her son.

Cologne was next. "Son-in-Law, I have also been thinking of a way to win the fiancée race lately and your mother has come up with an idea that will allow us to save everyone's honor."

"You got to be kidding?" Ranma asked. "There isn't any way out of this mess unless I off myself."

The old woman cackled. "Oh really? There are always options my boy, always."

"Like what? Another potion to screw me over? I don't think so, those things never work anyway."

"I've always wondered about that." Cologne said. "They seemed to work on everyone else. Just not you. When they do work, they don't work in the way they're supposed to work. Lust spice makes you jumpy instead of lusty, passion spice makes you sleepy instead of making you jump my grand daughter. Even the mind control potions don't work. It just doesn't make any sense."

Ranma gaped at her.

"We've tried everything. Even the Amazon council is stumped and ordered me to finish this mess. We have to come home by the end of the year no matter what the outcome of this mess. So a different tactic will be employed. Do it and I'll release you from the Kiss of Marriage and Death . Even Shampoo has agreed with this."

Shampoo sighed sadly and nodded. "Shampoo agree. Want to go home, see friends and family. Been to to long."

Now Ranma was just looking confused. "What's going on then."

"Ranma, as a master you have to be free to make your own decisions. So you will have one duty to perform for the girls, something they all wanted from you, and you will be free from their engagements." Nodoka explained.

Kodachi licked her lips and smiled.

Ranma sweatdropped and seriously wondered why she was there in the first place. "What do I have to do?"

"Bed them all." Happosai said. "Me and Cologne will make sure the girls get what they each want from the deed."

Ranma made a weird noise, his hair stood on end, and he fell over in a faint.

Happosai poked him a couple of times with his pipe. "He took that rather well."

The giant grin on Nodoka's face lit up the room.

"MY SON IS SO MANLY!"

oooooooooo

-Present-

Reaching out, Ranma grabbed Harry's wrist and stopped him in mid punch. "Stop, you are starting a bad habit."

Harry blinked in surprise. "Huh? I am?"

Ranma nodded. "When you throw a punch, you control the punch from beginning to end. You are just throwing your hand forward with no control and it shows in these wild swings you're making."

"Sorry."

"Now, I want you to take a basic stance and throw fifty punches, like this. Make sure the angle of your wrist and arm are exact. At the very end of your punch, give your wrist a slight inward twist, then pull your arm back the way I taught you, slightly twisting your wrist in the opposite direction."

Harry nodded.

"Accuracy now, speed and power will come with time."

Nodding again, Harry concentrated for a second before started throwing slow, careful punches. For the last couple of hours the two of them had gone through the basics of his training with Ranma showing him things he'd missed when he was younger and expanding on other areas. How the angle of the punch could affect the power of its impact and cause even more damage for example.

Harry knew most of this, but Ranma insisted on going over these moves time and again. The Gryffindor wasn't sure why though. Only that after every session Harry could feel the difference in his fighting ability. He could feel himself getting stronger as well.

At the same time Ranma had Harry incorporating his wand into more and more of the training. He explained that Harry needed to find a way to use magic without the handicap the wand created. A tool would create dependence and create a weakness that anyone could exploit. Harry had heard from several of the students that they needed a wand to perform magic. It was also impossible to use magic without a wand unless it was a really simple spell.

Ranma didn't like that idea though and said they would work on overcoming the problem later. For now they would stick with the Wand Kata so that he could use them when needed. Ranma also seemed concerned about how the teachers treated Harry when he was in class. He didn't say it aloud though, but he was going to make sure that Harry didn't have to do though the same educational problems as he had.

The potion professor's actions while Harry was in class didn't make sense to Ranma no matter how he considered the problem. Therefore, Ranma was going to make sure the boy would be able to defend himself if things turned ugly. There was enough hate in that man to make Ranma wonder about the guy. Most actions could be explained, this hate seemed to be coming from nothing.

Then there were the other teachers. Ranma wasn't sure why, but several of them seemed to be a little hard on Harry for no reason. He'd have to find out just why it was happening. Ranma thought that most of it might just have something to do with Harry's fame. Maybe they expected more from Harry than the other students?

"Finished." Harry said, although he was slightly winded from throwing so many punches.

"Did you feel the difference in the strength of the punches?"

Harry nodded.

"Good, now that you are in school we are going to do something to help you recall things. The first step is that meditation technique I taught you, but that doesn't always achieve full recall. It is good for taking in large amounts of information though."

"I noticed that I have problems recalling details." Harry said.

Ranma nodded. "From now on, whenever you are practicing or even relaxing I want you to go over what you learned during the day and commit it to memory. I used to spend several hours every morning training my body, while at the same time I would train my mind. Used to drive my father batty. Once you can do that we will strengthen your mind a bit, giving you perfect recall."

Harry wasn't sure what to say. He knew that Ranma had some odd ideas, but they usually worked a lot better than normal training did. Ranma was also helping to understand the people around the school. The teachers were rather biased, but the students were even worse with their hero worship. Ranma had him meditate for an hour every night to process everything that happened to him, to clear his mind.

"Do you want me to just add this to the nightly meditation?"

Ranma nodded.

Then Harry started to think of the one person around the school that was starting to earn his hatred. One Draco Malfoy, the world's biggest prat. Ever since they met on the train the jerk seemed to go out of his way to piss off everyone around him.

Though the boy also tried to stay as far away from his as possible, so he was setting other students on him instead. The two of them would have to have a little chat here pretty soon. Harry wondered if he could find his way into the Slytherin common room.

"What do you have scheduled for today?" Ranma asked, interrupting Harry's thoughts of revenge and punishment.

"Flying practice." Harry said as he carefully moved about trying to keep his center.

"Those brooms?"

"Yeah, Ron is really excited about them."

"Learn all you can, then worry about what and what not to keep later. You never know when some small bit of information or skill will come in handy." Ranma said, sounding just like an arrogant Genma.

Harry snorted. "Yeah right Mr. Martial Arts ballroom dancing Master."

Grunting, Ranma pretended not to hear him. "Your time is nearly up for this morning. Better start getting ready for another day of schooling."

Smirking a little, Harry ran for the showers before Ranma could change his mind. Several minutes later he climbed out of his trunk dressed in his Hogwarts uniform. He was glad that no one was there to see him. Harry was really starting to dislike his fame and it seemed to make everyone around him into stuttering morons.

"Harry!" Ron yelled as Harry came downstairs.

"Hi Ron."

"You ready to learn how to fly!" The red headed boy said excitedly.

Harry shrugged. "I heard we have to learn with the Slytherins. I'm not looking forward to that at all. Malfoy will be there, that jerk never shuts up about flying though. Every time I get around the guy I have to restrain myself from beating him unconscious." Harry growled.

Ron backed away a couple of steps. "D-don't worry about it. He's probably just all hot air anyway. You'll do fine, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so." Harry said.

Ron and Dean, one of their roommates got into a large argument on the differences between Quidditch and Football the other night. Right now the two of them weren't even talking to each other because of it. It didn't help that Ron seemed to think that everything Muggle was to be taken at face value.

So football became an actual foot, inflated and kicked around a pitch. The boy didn't seem to be able to even rationalize even the simplest muggle items either. This confused the hell out of Harry, because even wizarding items were easy to understand to him, so he expected the opposite to be true. Yet it seemed most wizarding families were actually ignorant of the muggle world.

Willfully ignorant, as if they didn't even think it was worth thinking about. Harry wasn't even going to comment on Ron standing in front of Dean's football poster and poking it with his wand, trying to make it move like wizarding posters. Then there was Neville Longbottom. Harry was amazed that the boy wasn't laid up in bed.

He'd never seen one boy who managed to injure himself as much as Neville did. The boy seemed to gravitate from one disaster to another every couple of hours. It was an uncanny ability.

Neville received a small package from his grandmother a little while later when they were at breakfast while Ron was telling about how that Granger Girl in Ravenclaw hadn't done very well her flying lessons the day before. Harry wasn't sure where the boy got his information though and appeared to be spouting rumors. It seemed the girl could recite anything from Hogwarts A History, but she wasn't even able to get more than a few feet off the ground with her broom.

Neville opened his gift and held up a palm sized ball. "A Rememberall!"

"What in the world is that?" Dean asked from across the table.

"Well if you are holding this and you forget something it…" The ball suddenly flared with a bright red glow. "…turns red." Neville said, frowning at the ball.

As the pudgy boy tried to figure out what he forgot, Draco Malfoy walked by and suddenly snatched it out of his. "Longbottom, did you forget to put on your underwear again?"

Ron and Harry jumped to their feet. "Malfoy!"

"What is going on here." Snapped a voice from behind them.

They turned to see Professor McGonagall staring down at them.

"Malfoy took Neville's Rememberall." Ron said.

The bond haired kid glared at Ron, and Harry, for a second before placing the ball on the table. "Just looking, sheesh." And walked back to the Slytherin table.

Harry picked up the ball and handed it back to Neville. "Better put that away."

The kid nodded, blushing a bit, and stuffed it inside his robe as he quickly finished his breakfast. Harry watched out of the corner of his eye as Malfoy and his two tag alongs sat down at the Slytherin table. The boy sent a death glare right towards Harry, but it was also tinged with fear.

Harry grinned at them. It was an evil grin that made Malfoy pale noticeably.

oooooooooo

A few hours later the Gryffindor students stepped outside for their flying lessons. Harry noted that it was a rather clear day with only a slight breeze rippling the thick carpet of grass next to the castle. He spotted a severe looking woman setting out two rows of brooms in the grass.

The Slytherins were already there, each of them standing next to a broom and glaring at the Gryffindors as they approached. As they arrived Harry noticed that the teacher had wild grey hair and yellowish eyes. She waved the students over and told them to take their place next to a broom.

"I am Madam Hooch, your flying instructor. Now everyone stand next to a broom, hurry up, we don't' have all day!" She yelled.

Neville whimpered a bit as he edged his way over to a ratty looking broom and looked at it fearfully. Harry tried not to snort at the odd way everyone was acting. He looked around as he felt someone looking at him. He turned to see Malfoy glaring at him a few yards away.

Harry gazed back calmly, giving the impression of boredom. Most of the brooms were beat up and he could recall the twins complaining that the school had brooms that were in bad shape. They weren't even good for playing Quidditch anymore.

They mentioned how the brooms were unstable or that they didn't corner worth a crap when it was really needed. He wondered if they were even safe to use if they were in this kind of condition. Turning back, he spotted Malfoy sneering at him.

Harry gave him a look that made several of the Slytherins pale. Several of the Gryffindor's watched and snickered. Madam Hooch didn't seem to even noticed that several of the students weren't paying any attention to her as she finished off her speech about flying responsibly.

Dismissing the Slytherins, Harry figured he could kick their asses as one whole mass if they attacked him so he wasn't very worried. Madam Hooch got their attention as she blew her whistle. "Hold your hand above your broom and say 'UP'!"

Harry started at the broom and yelled 'UP'. The broom jumped from the ground and into his hand in an instant. He blinked in surprise as he felt the broom vibrating in his palm. He looked around to see how everyone else was doing and was surprised to see that he was the only one holding a broom. Hooch eyed him for a second, but didn't say anything.

As expected, Neville's broom flopped over and played dead. Then Malfoy yelled 'UP' once more and the broom jumped up into his hand. They spent several minutes getting the brooms into all the students' hands and Madam Hooch moved from student to student showing them how to mount, grip, and keep from falling off.

"Mr. Malfoy, fix your grip!" Hooch snapped at the aristocratic boy.

"I've been flying for years, woman!" He snapped back.

"Then you've been doing it wrong! Ten points from Slytherin for talking back to a teacher!"

The boy glowered, unimpressed with the punishment.

Madam Hooch glared at him until he adjusted the grip on his broom. Then she turned to the rest of the class. "Now we are going to hover a few feet off the ground! Make sure you follow your instructions to the letter! No playing around or you won't ever fly again!"

Off to the side Harry could see that Neville was about to have problems, again. The boy melted cauldrons in potions, destroyed objects in transfigurations, and even miscast nearly every Charm he learned in class. Harry got to witness the boy screw up nearly every other day, Harry knew the signs, and so did the rest of the Gryffindor class.

Madam Hooch started counting just as Neville suddenly screamed and his broom launched into the air. She spun around just as the white faced boy jerked on the broom and made it twist to the side. "Boy, get back down here and quit messing around."

Neville yelled just as he slammed into the side of the castle, fell off his broom, and dropped to the ground. They all winced as they heard not one, but several bones breaking. The teacher ran over to him cursing under her breath. It took her a second to examine the boy.

"All of you, don't move while I take Mr. Longbottom to the hospital wing. NO FLYING or you will be EXPELLED!"

Harry watched as she helped Neville to his feet. The boy had a broken arm, wrist, and a bloodied nose. Hooch helped him walk into the castle without looking back at the class. Almost instantly Harry knew trouble was brewing when Malfoy started laughing.

"That was great! One more useless Gryffindor we don't have to deal with!" It didn't take long for the rest of the Slytherins to follow Malfoy's example.

One of the Gryffindor girls stomped her foot. "Shut up Malfoy!"

No one even seemed to hear her, much to the girl's distress. Harry was about to say something when Malfoy suddenly ran over to where Neville landed. He held up a small palm sized ball. "Look! It's that idiotic thing his gran sent him this morning!"

Malfoy sneered and glanced at the top of the castle. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for him to find it. Maybe up there."

Harry stalked over to Malfoy and made a grab for the ball, but Malfoy suddenly mounted his broom and rose about ten feet into the air. "Come and get it, orphan."

An aura of boiling red power formed around Harry as he glared at the boy above him. He slowly walked over to his broom and let it rise off the ground and over next to him. He mounted it just as Ron grabbed his arm.

"Harry, calm down mate. Please, it's just a ball." The boy said.

"It's not that easy Ron." Harry said, his voice as cold as ice. He launched into the air and shot past Malfoy, making the boy's robes billow dangerously.

In the space of a second Harry realized that riding a broom was incredibly easy. He pulled quick over head turn and shot back towards Malfoy, who managed to dodge this time. Harry could tell that the boy really did know how to fly a broom.

Go figure.

"Give it back or I'll kick you off that broom!" Harry yelled.

A flash of worry lit in Malfoy's eyes as Harry flew circles around him. He'd never seen a kid fly in the way Harry did, as if he had years of experience on a broom. "You don't stand a chance."

"Oh yeah?" Harry growled as he brought his broom to a rolling stop a few yards from the blonde Slytherin. "Crabbe and Goyle aren't here to protect you Malfoy, you won't get away with this."

Malfoy looked around nervously as he realized that Harry was right. Looked at Harry, sneered, and suddenly threw the Rememberall towards the school as hard as he could. Maybe it would shatter against the school. The perfect revenge.

"Idiot!" Harry yelled as he spun the broom around and leaned forward, doing an angled dive at the ground as he pushed the broom as hard as he could. It was all instinct and Harry wasn't really thinking about his actions, just reacting as Ranma taught him, but he knew that Neville would be devastated if that little ball was broken. The boy had absolutely no confidence in himself.

The air whistled past his ears as he increased the speed of his dive, chasing after the ball. He could hear the class screaming at him as he shot towards the ground, but he focused on the little ball and reached out to catch it when he was about a foot from the ground.

The instant it touched his hand he gave the broom a savage twist. The twist sent him back into the air and he felt his control on the broom lesson just a little. It gave a little jerk right as he noticed that he was heading for the side of the castle about two stories up. He twisted around and vaulted off the broom right when it was about the hit.

His feet slammed against the wall of the castle and absorbed the impact. For a second he crouched there defying gravity, and then fell forward and performed several midair flips and landed on the ground. His broom still clutched in one hand, the Remember all in the other. Total silence greeted him as he started to calm down.

"Potter!"

Harry spun around to see Professor McGonagall stalking over to him. "I had…"

"Never…in all my…years at Hogwarts…" She yelled.

"But Malfoy…"

"You could have DIED!" The woman yelled, completely ignoring Harry.

Then Harry realized what he'd done and saw the looks of evil glee on the Slytherins faces. He was going to be expelled his conscience yelled at him. McGonagall was still yelling at him about he could have died, been injured, or even worse. She didn't even appear to be paying attention to him as she ranted on and on.

Then she grabbed the fabric of his robe and dragged him into the castle, moving a little faster than he could walk, and was forced to jog just to keep up. She continued to berate him for a few more minutes before she stopped, took a deep breath, and sighed.

Harry wanted to defend himself, but had a feeling that if he even tried he would be kicked out of school in an instant. The next few minutes were completely silent as she dragged him through the castle. For a few seconds Harry wondered if they were heading for Professor Dumbledore's office, but they eventually stopped outside a classroom instead.

She rapped on the door and stuck her head into the room. "Professor Flitwick, I need to see Wood for a minute."

Harry panicked for second, there was not way he would let the woman beat him for this. Then an older boy stepped out of the room and looked at McGonagall. The old woman didn't say anything for a second as she glared down at Harry. "Follow me."

The two boys looked at each other for a second as the old woman headed down the corridor and entered an empty class room. She didn't even pause as she banished Peeves from the room with a flick of her wand. Harry tried to ignore the dirty words Peeves had been writing on the blackboard. Some really nasty ones, but McGonagall didn't appear to even see them.

Once the poltergeist was gone, she slammed the door and suddenly looked like Christmas had come early. Harry was starting to wonder if the woman was off he rocker or something. She almost seemed to float around the room for a few seconds. Then, with a giant grin she turned to Harry.

"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood, he's your new seeker!"

The older boy gave Harry a surprised and delighted look. "Are you serious!"

"Yes, if you'd just seen what I did. The boy is a natural flyer! I've never seen anything like it before. Was that really the first time you've ever been on a broom Mr. Potter?" She asked suddenly.

Harry blinked, he was having trouble keeping up with all the questions and really wondered if this was how they expelled students. If so it wasn't really funny. Then again, as his brain caught up with his fear and beat the hell out of it, he started to wonder if something else wasn't going on.

"Um, yeah, it wasn't that hard."

Wood looked even more amazed.

"I watched as he took a fifty foot dive, full speed, and caught a little ball in his hand without taking a scratch!" She explained.

Now Wood looked like he wanted to dance. "He's got a larger than normal build on him for a first year Professor, but he's still built for the position. He'll need a broom though, something really fast."

The teacher nodded. "I'll talk to the Headmaster about bending the first year rule. I don't want to be flattened by Slytherin again. Professor Snape never lets me forget how good his Slytherins are at Quidditch. I swear I couldn't look that man in the eye for two weeks after that last match. It was horrible. I want that cup in my office this year!"

Wood nodded, his eyes shining as he imagined this mysterious cup as well.

Harry looked confused, as usual they were talking about him and not to him. Gods he hated it when people did this and why was it always a teacher? Then the batty old woman patted Harry on the shoulder. "Your father would have been so proud of you. He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."

oooooooooo

After telling Harry to keep his position on the team a secret, Oliver Wood proceeded float around the school on a cloud of happiness for the rest of the day. He kept coming up to Harry, getting a strange look in his eye, and laughing like an insane maniac. The whole thing was starting to make Harry more than a little nervous.

Was everyone in this school a weirdo? He thought to himself as he sat down to dinner and ignored Wood as the boy noticed him. That look of glee did not fit on the older boy's face. He shoveled a large portion of food onto his plate and ate dinner.

Next to him Ron looked at him. "Well!" He exploded.

Harry eyed him for a second and reminded himself that he needed to keep the Quidditch thing a secret. "I didn't get expelled."

The red head sighed in relief. Then something odd happened. Fred and George ran into the great hall and right over to Harry. They started patting him on the back and grinning like idiot.

"Congratulations! Were on the team too." One said.

"We're on the team too – Beaters!" The other one said. Harry thought he might be Fred, but he wasn't sure. They were identical twins even down to how they dressed.

Ron's eyes tripled in size as his brain put the information together. "You…" He said.

Harry made a shushing noise and glared at the twins. "I was told to keep it a secret!" He hissed.

"Bloody Hell!" Ron yelled. "You must be the youngest…"

Fred and George whapped Ron in the back of the head and the boy suddenly turned into a large yellow chicken. They laughed and waved as they ran off with a now angry yellow chicken chasing after them, feathers filling the air as it ran. The rest of Gryffindor broke out laughing.

Harry also noticed that Neville wasn't there for dinner. Shrugging, he put it out of his mind and quickly finished eating dinner. He wanted to get back to the common room, finish his homework for the day, and have some time to practice with Ranma.

A few minutest later he was turning a corner when three boys stepped out of the shadows of an unused room. Harry groaned as he realized that it was Malfoy and his two goons again. He was so tired of these idiots that he nearly lashed out at them. Instead he just calmly placed his foot back a little, taking a hidden fighting stance.

"Malfoy." He snapped.

"I hope you enjoyed your last meal, orphan." The blonde haired boy sneered. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled as they cracked their knuckles. They were quite big for a pair of supposed eleven year olds. They were Nearly a foot taller than Malfoy. For a second Harry wondered how many times the two boys had been held back in school.

Harry laughed. "That's amazing Blondie, it seems you suddenly get brave when you have these two at your back, but you cower in fear whenever they aren't here. Family inherited trait perhaps?"

Malfoy's wand was suddenly pointed at Harry's chest. "Take that back or you'll wake up in the hospital wing." The boy threatened just as Harry's arm blurred. Malfoy jumped back as his hand exploded in pain. Cursing his eyes turned to look at Harry, who was tossing Malfoy's wand in the air.

"Little slow there as well." Smirking as he twirled the wand around. "Are you 'out of shape' wimp."

Malfoy's face turned a dark red. "Give that back, or I'll Crabbe and Goyle will…"

Harry laughed. "I've taken on larger bullies than these to morons Malfoy."

"Why you…"

"Maybe I should keep this for now. You know, so that I can turn it over to a teacher."

"My father is on the school board Potter! I'll have you expelled for this!" Draco snapped. "Give me MY WAND!"

Every fiber of Harry's being wanted to lash out and deck the smarmy little worm in front of him, but that would get him kicked out of school. So instead his arm snapped forward and threw the wand down the hall. "FETCH!"

"Duel in the Trophy room at midnight, Potter! Or else!" Malfoy yelled.

Then the three Slytherins yelled as they chased after the wand and vanished down the hall. Harry turned and punched the wall, shattering one of the stones in a hail of stone. Growling, he glared at the hole and his throbbing hand, and stalked down the corridor flexing his fingers to bring back his sense of touch.

He didn't notice the shadow further down the hall that suddenly moved to follow him. Seconds later a girl walked over and examined the hole in the wall. She frowned a little, adjusted her glasses, and moved after Harry. Torch light reflected off her glasses and highlighted her Ravenclaw badge.

"Fascinating."

oooooooooo

Notes: I was going to make the flying lesson different from the book, but the idea I had just didn't work out so I went with a modified version instead. As for Harry being a little bigger, remember he's been training with Ranma for several years, he's bulked up with muscle and proper meals. He's taller, stronger, and a lot more healthy.

As you can see by the beginning of this chapter, I'm going to be showing a bit of Ranma's history. This bit shows why the girls aren't after him like they used to be. More will be revealed every chapter from now on, or every other chapter depending on how things work out.

Omake:

Harry turned and punched the wall, shattering one of the stones in a hail of stone. Then the wall collapsed, revealing a sight Harry wasn't expecting, but would scar him for life.

Professor Dumbledore in the shower, wearing a shower cap, holding a scrub brush, and a yellow ducky.

Harry fell over in shock. He twitched a few times. There are something one just shouldn't see and a naked hundred and fifty year old man is one of them.


	10. Chapter 10

Notes: As of this posting, I've just finished the rough draft for ch 20, so I have plenty more to go before we run out of chapters. I believe there are going to be about 23 to 25 chapters total for this story as well so keep up those great reviews and let me know what you think!

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 10  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

For the last several days Ranma spent much of his free time during the day doing a number of things to keep himself occupied. Most of the morning, after Harry left, was spent finishing his own practice. Ranma's own practice was quite different than what Harry did

Ranma was advanced enough that his body would perform moves much more efficiently than Harry. So he spent his time working on advancing his Ki abilities and thinking of new ones. This was how Happosai had created the Anything Goes style so long ago. The Yamasenken and Umisenken schools, created by his father, could also be included, but Ranma tried not to think about the old man unless had to.

After an intense practice and a shower, he would head down to Harry's library and grab two books and speed read them, usually finishing by the time lunch time rolled around. He went through the books and basically absorbed the information in them. He was determined to figure out how the magic worked.

So far he hadn't had much luck, but with every book he read he would gain a few more ideas and clues. Supposedly he wasn't even supposed to be able to cast magic because he was a muggle, or non magical person. Ranma wasn't about to accept that idea and give up.

Magic of one kind or another was always popping up around him. The Jusenkyo springs where he got his curse, Cologne and her thrice cursed potions designed to turn him into a brainless toy for her grand daughter. Then there was that dragon whisker thing.

The books they had grabbed in Harry's vaults were of all types and uses. Ranma liked the theory and history books the best because they always gave him new ideas to try. Ranma also liked to keep Harry up to date on what he read and would leave out books with sections to read.

After that Ranma would leave the trunk and go out and explore the castle. It was during these explorations, using the Umisenken to walk around invisibly, that Ranma would learn more about the magical world than the books mentioned. After spending the afternoon doing that, he would head back to the tower and wait for Harry to get back for their afternoon practice and study sessions

Keeping Harry busy was paramount to Ranma's training. The kid had a lot of anger to work through and every year it seemed to get just a little worse. Ranma could tell that Harry was starting to tap into the wrong kind of Ki, but getting him to change meant dealing with the boy's anger.

He'd have to take it one step at a time. Dealing with that potions master was high on Ranma's list.

oooooooooo

"You're as bad as I was when I was younger." Ranma said in an amused tone as he wrapped Harry's hand in thick gauze.

"That arrogant little…" Harry growled.

"Yep, just like me. Though it was usually my enemies that said that about me."

"I can't believe he would even have the gall to try and point his wand in my face like that. The bastard, I already want to break every bone in his body and he goes and pulls this crap." Harry muttered and sighed. "I just don't understand why."

"He doesn't like you of course."

"That's not a good enough reason. I couldn't care less about him or his little gang, but he just won't stop provoking me."

Ranma nodded. "Well I'll look into it. I don't like being cooped in this trunk all the time so I'm going to start exploring the castle after everyone is asleep."

The boy turned to give Ranma a surprised look. "They don't like anyone wandering around after hours. You could get in trouble."

Ranma laughed. "Me? You have to be kidding?"

This made Harry smile a little. "You are good, but remember that book we read. There are wards in place around the school to keep track of everyone and protect the school."

"They won't see me. I have my ways. Trust me."

"Right." Harry said and shrugged. "Well be careful at the very least, the caretaker Filch has this cat…"

Ranma shuddered.

"…and it likes to find students and get them in trouble. Filch is a very mean person. He'll give out detention for things that haven't even happened. I don't know what he would do someone that isn't a student. He's always muttering about torturing the students, chaining them to the wall and such."

"Not to worry, I can sense a cat a mile off."

"Then that stupid duel is going to be a problem." Harry muttered. "Perhaps I'll just ignore it."

"You must show up." Ranma said in a serious tone. "As my student you must never turn down a challenge."

"He probably won't even show up himself, he challenged me as he was running away after all."

Ranma shrugged. "I was thinking the same thing. These Slytherins seem to be a dishonorable bunch, but we will still show up."

"Yes sir."

"That is why I'm going out to explore a bit more after hours. I still haven't gotten used to all these hidden doors, moving staircases, and ghosts running around. I want to see what the conditions are like at night. That way if he does show we will have the advantage. If not we are out a few hours sleep and the win is ours."

"No problem, but we still have to avoid Filch and that blasted cat of his."

"Feh, way too easy." Ranma said. "Now do your homework so you can get a few hours of sleep before the fight."

Harry nodded as he stood up and went to the library. He wasn't really in the mood to do his homework, but he wouldn't have time to finish it later. His hand was still a little sore as well, but Ranma tapped a few pressure points while wrapping it, so he could still use it in an emergency.

By the time his hand was cramping up from over use he was finished with his homework. After that he read from some of the books Ranma left out for him before he put everything away, ran through a few minutes worth of stretches, and headed for bed.

"Get at least three hours; I'll wake you up half an hour before midnight." Ranma said from the doorway.

oooooooooo

-Seven years ago-

"Bed them all."

The words echoed in Ranma's head for some time. Considering what he knew of his mother, the request wasn't that far fetched. He knew that she wanted grand children more than anything in the world. Ranma wasn't even all that surprised now that he had time to think about that idea.

Happosai wasn't one to sit around waiting for anything either, he just went and did anything he wanted. So he wasn't about to let Ranma wiggle his way out of this request. Not when there was a possibility he might watch. "Boy, you will do this."

"But why?" Ranma whined.

"So you can start your quest. It will take you some time to pull it off and the sooner you begin the better. Bedding several girls is simple enough and they even want you to do it. I don't' see the problem."

"Son, this is such a small thing. This was the price the girls wanted to break the engagements." Nodoka explained, almost mimicking Happosai. "You can do all of them by tonight if you want. Now get to work."

Ranma could only gape at the woman.

"You've already done all of them anyway Ranma; this will just be the final time." Akane snarled, her jealous anger starting to raise its head once more.

The other fiancée's all turned to glare at the girl, but she was always saying something like that. This time Ranma could tell that she actually seemed to mean it. Ranma could feel several battle auras flaring up and knew that this wasn't going to end well. He had to prevent that. His mother wouldn't be safe if the others let loose inside the house.

"Now everyone calm down." Kasumi said gently. "Akane, that was uncalled for."

"I know the pervert better than all of you." Akane growled. "I know where he goes when he's not here."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Yes Akane, I bet you do. Usually you mallet him out of the house, through the roof, where he lands some distance away. Anyone else would be killed from that kind of thing, but not Ranma, he usually wakes up after a half an hour or so buried in a crater."

The youngest Tendo sister snorted. "Yeah right, he's always spending time at Ukyo's place, probably in her bed."

"I serve him dinner." The girl stated, though having Ranma in her bed wasn't a bad idea.

"Yeah right."

Ranma really wondered where Akane got these ideas and if she was agreeable to this supposed deal, how he was supposed to actually pull it off was a different story. She would kill him before he even got her clothes off.

"If Shampoo bedded Arien, then we be in China already." The Amazon snapped, smirking at Akane.

Akane snarled. "I've seen him feel you up. Every damned day when you jump on him on the way to school!"

Shampoo blinked and grinned, suddenly lost in a fantasy. It didn't help when she started giggling and drooling a few seconds later and mumbling about playful hands. Cologne had to bop her on the head to wake her up though. "Calm yourself child."

"Yes Great Grandmother."

At the same time Happosai was glaring at Akane. "Well, I guess you want to withdraw from the deal then."

"No way." Akane snapped. "Ranma will give me one full night, and then I never have to see the pervert again."

Ranma could feel his heart breaking and didn't really understand why. He always thought he would end up with Akane in the end, but this wasn't anything like the Akane he knew. She wasn't usually this cold or calculated either. Ranma focused his eyes and looked at Akane's aura.

What he saw was a bit of a surprise. He almost gasped aloud, but controlled himself. Akane was frightened, very frightened and that fear was coiling around her and turning into pure rage. The one emotion she seemed to channel the best.

"Akane, haven't you been doing those techniques I taught you?" Ranma asked.

"Why should I do anything you say?" Akane growled.

"They are supposed to help you control that growing rage of yours."

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Akane screamed.

Cologne's staff snapped out and tapped Akane about five times in the stomach. The girl groaned and fell to the floor as all the Ki in her body left her. Within seconds she couldn't even stand. Instead, she struggled to get up and failed completely.

"Sure, take away all my fun." Happosai muttered. "She was just about to lose it completely."

"We don't need a berserker in the house right now." Cologne snapped. "Really, who taught that girl how to access that much Rage Ki?"

Nodoka stared down at Akane in shock.

"I've been teaching her how to meditate and control her anger." Ranma said. "I never showed her how to focus her Ki that way."

"We'll have to look into it, but this may be a good excuse to remove her from the deal completely." Cologne suggested. "The fewer girls that Son-in-Law has to bed the better."

Kodachi hadn't said a word in several minutes seemed to just be waiting for Ranma to take her right there and then. She had large hearts in her eyes as she stared at him. Ranma was really trying to ignore her, but the line of drool dripping off her chin made that almost impossible.

Then Nodoka shook her head. "Well Ranma, I think we should get started."

"What!" Ranma yelled.

"Take one of the girls up to the guest room and bed her." Nodoka ordered.

Nabiki suddenly jumped up and ran for the stairs. "I have to set up my equipment first! I'll make a fortune!"

"Butbutbutbutbutbutbut…" Ranma sputtered.

"Now, I think Little Kodachi here wants to be first." Nodoka said, smiling at the girl.

Kodachi beamed as she stood up and let her kimono loosen around her shoulders, showing off a bunch of skin. "Ranma-sama I'm yours forever. OHOHOHOHOHOHOH!"

"Do me proud son." Nodoka said. "I expect to hear plenty of noise too."

Ranma wanted to start crying, he really did. Since when was Kodachi a fiancée? The aristocratic girl grabbed him by the pig tail and started dragging him away from the table and up the stairs. "I've been waiting a long time for this day Ranma-sama."

He tried to get away, he really did, but Kodachi was a woman possessed and wouldn't let him. Even when Ranma grabbed the stairs, she just gave a yank and the wood shattered under his fingers. Seconds later they entered the guest room and the door shut.

"Pervert!" Akane yelled.

Ukyo and Shampoo looked a bit put out, but calmed down after Kasumi gave them some tea.

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH!" Kodachi was well known for being a very loud girl and she certainly proved it here.

Nodoka just beamed at everyone.

Happosai looked like he was about to explode as he looked up the stairs at the closed door to the guest room.

Ranma on the other hand, was attempting to crawl out the window, but Kodachi had other ideas.

"Now Kodachi, there's no need for whips and cuffs…"

"OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

oooooooooo

-Present-

Several hours later Harry felt a weird feeling around his ankle. Opening his eyes in confusion, he was asleep after all, he yelled out in shock as he realized that Ranma was holding him upside down, out the window. By the ankle.

"YAHAAA!" Harry screamed.

"You awake yet?" Ranma asked.

"Ranma, pull me back in!"

The pigtailed man laughed and dragged him back inside and dropped him on the floor. "Now you're fully awake."

Gasping for air, Harry looked around the room and noticed that Ron and the others were still asleep in their beds. "Why didn't they wake up?"

Chuckling some more, Ranma just folded his arms. "It's a secret."

Huffing, Harry jumped to his feet. "You cast a sleep charm on them."

"Nope."

"Silence charm?"

"Nope." Ranma smirked.

"What the heck did you use then!"

"I'm the best martial artist in the world." Ranma said, as if that explained everything.

Glaring at the man, Harry snorted. "Whatever. You better show me one day though."

"I might." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Now get dressed, you have a challenge to attend in twenty minutes."

A set of clothes lay on the bed next to his pillow. Over the last few years Harry had figured out that Ranma didn't think like a normal martial artist and figured it had something to do with his own training. For instance, there were more important things to worry about than clothing, which was worn for convenience. Things like style just didn't factor into the problem unless it was for a reason.

A combat uniform had two uses, maneuverability and a possible combat advantage. Ranma once said he trained girls to use their uniform as a distraction by showing off lots of skin. Men on the other hand had to look intimidating and this meant leather.

Black leather with studs.

So a few minutes later Harry was dressed in a black silk shirt, loose pants, boots, and a black leather coat that hung down to his knees. Ranma handed him a bandana with the Saotome family symbol on it and grinned as Harry tied it around his head.

"I look ridiculous."

"You look great. That little punk will run from you in fear, you won't even have to raise your hand. He just has to see your aura and he'll we himself in fear."

Harry snorted. "Yeah right." Forgetting that is what Malfoy did last time.

Pretending to ignore him, Ranma headed for the door to the room and vanished in mid step. "Let's go."

"Wha!" Harry gasped.

"Move!" Ranma's voice echoed through the room. "Now!"

Harry ran for the door, down the stairs, and out the portal without thinking. The fat lady said something to him, but Harry didn't have time to think about it. He gasped for air as the portrait closed and fat lady looked at him in confusion.

"Mr. Potter, you shouldn't be out of bed this late.

"I gotta take care of something." He said as he ran down the hall and around the corner.

"Well!" The portrait said, looking affronted.

Harry heard Ranma's amused voice. "Lead the way kid."

Harry and Ranma walked down the hallway with the light from the moon streaming through the overhead windows and lighting up the corridor in bars of light and dark. A deep silence filled the school as they walked towards the trophy room. Harry was positive that Filch or his cat Mrs. Norris would be around every other corner they took. By the time they reached the right area his nerves were ragged. Ranma didn't seem to mind though. He was invisible after all.

The trophy room was near the third floor, where the forbidden corridor was located, but Harry didn't really think of it. The Trophy room was several rooms away and it had several entrances. Ranma enjoyed the moving staircases and rode one around several turns before he jumped off next to Harry.

"This place is great for training."

"You just like to play around." Harry snapped.

Ranma grinned. "Everything is training, even having a bit of fun."

"Feh."

Ranma just chuckled as they entered the room. Unlike in other areas of the castle, this room didn't have the ever burning torches. The only lighting came from an overhead skylight that sent beam of moonlight to the center of the room. They were able to see old, crusty looking cases full of weird items. Some of the items were gold, a few silver, and even something that looked like polished wood.

After several minutes Harry started to look even more nervous. "What time is it?"

"Nearly midnight." Ranma said.

"They aren't coming."

Ranma shrugged. "That was a possibility; we'll head back to the classroom in a few minutes."

As midnight came and went, Harry cussed under his breath, and Ranma whacked him on the back of the head. Then they turned as one as they heard a noise in the next room. Harry started to feel a little relief as he thought Malfoy was going to show up after all, but then they heard a voice. It wasn't Malfoy or any of his friends.

"We will get them my sweet."

"Meow." Ranma's head snapped around he growled.

Harry paled and mouthed 'Filch' to Ranma.

They raced out of the room, using the corridor on the other side of the room to make their get away. Harry glared at Ranma as they heard foot steps quickly following them. "We have to get out of here. Now."

Perfectly calm, Ranma grinned a little. "This is more like it. We needed a bit of excitement."

"Excitement!" Harry nearly yelled.

"Yeah, I was getting bored."

The kid just gaped at him. "You have got to be kidding."

Ranma smirked and pointed to the light at the end of the corridor. "There we go, we're home free."

It was obvious that Filch was on their tail a few seconds later. He certainly didn't know how to move around silently either. The man liked to yell a the top of his lungs too. There was no sign of Mrs. Norris, but that worried Harry even more. That cat seemed to be around more than Filch. Ranma just grinned as they ran.

They moved down several corridors, whipping around corners, through empty classrooms, and at one point Ranma had them hanging from the ceiling as Filch and the ragged looking cat passed by underneath. Ranma had this large grin plastered to his face as if he was having the time of his life. They stayed on the ceiling for several minutes before they started moving again, crawling along the ceiling.

"This is the 'cling to the ceiling and hope they don't look up technique." Ranma explained.

"You have to be kidding."

"Nope, it's a lot of fun. I used it in the girl's rooms the other day." Ranma said.

Harry nearly fell off the ceiling. "What!" He hissed.

"I was just exploring." Ranma insisted as they crawled along. "They didn't suspect a thing. I was female at the time anyway, so it didn't matter."

"Yeah right." Harry muttered.

He sighed and tried to forget that Ranma could be quite odd at times. He was sure he would weigh ten pounds less in the morning by the time he stopped sweating. A few minutes later they dropped to the floor and backtracked down several corridors before stopping for a rest. Harry leaned up against the wall gasped for air.

"You're insane." He gasped out.

Ranma just laughed. "Just a little adventure, it's good for the heart."

Harry snorted.

"I'm pretty sure we lost him." Ranma said, and then whipped his head to the side when a nearby shadow seemed to move. Harry turned to see a girl standing at the end of the hall, the moonlight reflecting off her glasses. It gave her a very dangerous look as she moved towards them.

"So you came out here anyway." She said in a whispering voice.

"Who?" Ranma asked, surprised that some little kid could sneak up on him.

"Hermione Granger, we met on the train." Harry said. "I haven't seen much of her since the sorting though."

Hermione ignored Harry. "Malfoy tricked you."

"I know, but I had to show up."

"No, you didn't. All you're going to do is lose your house points and get into trouble. Filch was told that someone would be out tonight. Malfoy went right to him after you threw his wand."

Now Harry was giving her weird look. "How did you know I threw the wand?"

Ranma suddenly smirked. "Ah, I see."

The girl turned to look at him. "You're not a student, why are you here."

"I'm Harry's guardian." Ranma said. "You've been following Harry around haven't you? Ah, look at that blush! I knew it."

Hermione, blushing like mad, stomped her foot tried to ignore Ranma as Harry gave her a closer look. "Y-You need to get back to your tower."

"What about you?"

"I can get back to Ravenclaw easily." She said. "Please hurry."

Harry certainly wasn't going to tell her that she was right. So he settled on just doing what she said instead. "Let's head back Ranma, this whole situation is a trap."

The older man gave Harry a look. "I guess you're right. We'll be more careful next time this happens."

"There won't be a next time!" Hermione almost yelled, and then blushed again.

Ranma was smirking at her again. "You're a bit of a tomboy, ain't ya?"

She glared at him as he smiled.

"I'll see you later." Harry said to Hermione as they headed down the corridor, but they didn't make it far before they heard something odd. Even Ranma stopped to look around a little.

"What was that?"

It happened again, a door was rattling, then the door opened up and Peeves flew out of an empty classroom cackling. Hovering in the air it looked down on Harry, Ranma, and Hermione with wide eyes. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" It laughed in glee.

"Go away." Harry hissed at it.

"Peeves should alert Filch, yes Peeves should." It muttered and started to look like it's greatest wish had happened. "It's the 'right' thing to do after all."

"There is no need; we were just on our way back to our common rooms." Hermione said.

The poltergeist gave her a closer look. "A little snog session, eh?"

Hermione gasped at the poltergeist then blushed so red that it lit up whole corridor. "I…I…never…you…"

Cackling, the poltergeist turned to Ranma. "You…"

"What's up, misty?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, you want to insult ol'Peeves? Well I can play that game too! STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED AND A STRANGER IN THE CASTLE!" The poltergeist yelled out, incredibly loud.

Cursing, the three of them ran under the screaming trouble maker, turned a corner, and vanished down a long hall. Seconds later, they nearly ran into a door. Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's wand from his pocket and pointed it at the door. "ALOHOMORA!"

They heard a loud click and the door swung open. Running inside, they quickly shut the door and listened to Filch's running footsteps as he headed for Peeves. Harry took his wand back, leaned up against the door, and gasped for air. "I'm too young for this."

Ranma tugged at Harry's sleeve. "Um…kid?"

"Piss off, this all your fault!" Harry snapped.

"Um…Harry, turn around." Hermione said in a fear filled voice.

Giving the girl a look, he turned around and found himself about three inches from the eye of a monster. It towered over him, teeth bared, as drool dripped off the teeth. He gaped at the thing in shock.

"We're in the forbidden corridor." Hermione squeaked. "We're doomed! The Headmaster said we would die!"

"Well that's different." Ranma said as he looked up at the giant, three headed dog. "It doesn't look so tough."

The kids gave him a 'yeah right' look.

"It's a Cerberus." Hermione said, slightly awed.

Each of the giant dog's three heads was looking at them, ropy lines of drool dangled off the thing's yellowing teeth and gums as it started to growl. They could feel the sound in their bones. Hermione paled as she made herself one with the wall. Harry had no idea what to do and just gaped at the thing as he tried to ignore the dog breath.

Suddenly Harry grabbed the door handle and gave it a twist, the door opened and all three of them fell through. He just managed to see the surprised look on the large dog's face before the door shut itself and locked with a click. Then Harry realized that Filch wasn't there to meet them and sighed in relief.

Ranma jumped to his feet, walked over to the door, and grabbed the old lock between his fingers and squeezed. They winced as the lock was crushed under Ranma's fingers, a loud screeching sound filling the air. He stopped a few seconds later and made sure it would be impossible to open the door anytime soon.

"Much better."

"Who, are you again?" Hermione asked, her eyes were as wide as plates behind her glasses.

"He's my teacher and guardian." Harry reminded her as he dusted himself off. "Now let's head back to our common rooms and forget this night ever happened."

Hermione nodded and turned to Ranma. "I won't push, but I will find out who you really are."

"Good luck." Ranma said.

Then she turned around, ran down the corridor, and vanished before they could say anything else. Harry was quite surprised when he realized that he couldn't hear the girl's foot steps as she ran. "She's had some training."

"Yep, she's better than she lets on. I wonder who her teacher was? I'm not sure, but something about the way she moves is familiar." Ranma asked as they made their way back to Gryffindor. "She also doesn't trust me."

Harry nodded.

Ranma pulled his disappearing trick again just before they reached the portrait of the fat lady. A few minutes later Harry descended into his trunk and was glad he didn't have any homework left. He was too tired to worry about it.

Ranma reappeared in the kitchen and made a couple of sandwiches. "Well the kid was a no show, we had some fun, and you met a girl. Not bad for one evening."

"Is all this a game to you?"

"A game? No, but I'm here to teach you kid. You need to learn how to defend yourself after all, and we had some fun too. It's better than ending up in a cast for days on end after losing a fight."

"Yeah, but sheesh."

"That girl was really eyeing you too." Ranma teased.

"Hey!"

"Every time she looked at you her heart rate would go up just a little bit, her cheeks would get flushed, and her ni…"

Harry decked him one. "DIE!"

Ranma rubbed his chin, smirked a little, and just started laughing.

Ignoring him, Harry stomped out of the room and headed for bed. He really didn't want to think about what had just happened in that corridor. However, the thought of that dog did send a shiver of excitement through him. He wanted to see that thing again. And see what was under that trap door that it was standing on.

oooooooooo

With a careful hand, Professor Snape poured the last ingredient into the cauldron and stirred it several times. The mixture suddenly turned a white and started glowing. After that he quickly took it off the fire to let the potion cool.

A few minutes later he set ten bottles on the table so that he could give them to Madam Pomfrey. About ten minutes later, after dropping them off, he was heading back down into the dungeon when he heard an odd noise. He spun around, his robes billowing perfectly.

"Who's there?"

He pulled his wand and cast a couple of spells. Snarling, he quickly checked a few of the nearby rooms, but they were empty as well. Then as he was exiting a room he felt someone trip him. He went down with a curse, but managed to keep his wand in hand.

Half a second later he was back on his feet. He sent several hexes flying down the corridor, but they didn't hit anything. "Where are you?"

"Bwha HAHAHAHAHA!"

Snape nearly jumped out of his skin at the unearthly sounding laugh echoed throughout the corridor. He fired off about a dozen more spells, but they didn't hit anything. Then he noticed that a breeze was starting to ripple his clothing. Snape turned and ran down the hallway as the wind started to pick up speed, causing several of the wall mounted torches to go out.

Whoosh!

The wind suddenly hit hurricane strength, sending him flying into the air. It picked him up and spun him around dozens of times, ripping his robe to shreds. Snape yelled as his wand was pulled form his hand and he slammed into the wall at the end of the corridor. Groaning, Snape fell to the floor wearing only his underwear, a pair of snake motif boxers.

They were completely untouched by the wind while the rest of his robe filled the corridor like confetti.

"Bwha HAHAHAHAHA!"

Snape's wand fell to the floor in front of him and rolled a few inches before stopping as it reached the wall.

oooooooooo

Notes: Poor poor Snape. Yeah right.

There IS more to Hermione than meets the eye. I wonder what it could be? Ranma is only about ten years older than he was in the show, so he's around twenty six or so and still likes to play around when he gets a chance. He's Harry's guardian, but he also tries to be Harry's friend as well. Something Harry hasn't had much of during his life.

As you can see I expanded more on Ranma's past with this chapter. The idea once occurred to me that all the girls, if they worked together, that Ranma wouldn't stand a chance. Think about how Ranma reacted to that woman at Diagon Alley earlier in the story. He wasn't shy or nervous around the woman. His time with the fiancée brigade is the cause of Ranma's maturity.

oooooooooo

Omake:

Ranma looked down at his foot. He glared at it, but it didn't want to cooperate with him. He grabbed his leg and pulled, but it wouldn't move. He was stuck. His foot was stuck in a trick step on the stairs, burried up to his knee.

He glared at his foot again, but it didn't want to move at all. He was invisible, he was stuck, and he was late getting back to Gryffindor Tower.

A bell rang and suddenly the hallways were full of running kids, all of them heading in his direction. He saw them coming and started to yank and pull on his leg frantically.

It didn't work.

"Ah &$#." He muttered just as the kids ran down the stairs and proceeded to...

RUN HIM DOWN.

Stomp Stomp Stomp!

It lasted for nearlyfive minutes, but they didn't appear to even notice. Groaning, he lay there, one with the stairs...when his leg popped free. This just wasn't his day.

Now his arm was stuck in the step...


	11. Chapter 11

Notes: I've had a few people mention possible relationships for the story. If anyone knows my writing style, they'll know that I almost never go beyond the flirting or infatuation stage of a relationship. To me a Relationship tends to mess up the focus of the whole story, ruining it. Romance is fine, but when one has to take a fictional hammer and pound the match up it into the readers head, things have gone to far. Subtlety is so much more fun. 

Now does Harry like Hermione? Well duh, but I won't have them shagging in the bathrooms any time soon, that's for sure. This is just the first book that's being detailed, Cho wasn't even mentioned till the fourth book as a possible girlfriend and even then they never got very far with it in the book. One must remember that they are only eleven after all. Will I hint, yes, but will I turn this into a Harry/Hermione story? Not any time soon.

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 11  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

Harry and Ron walked into the great hall the next morning. Out of the corner of his eye Harry could see that Malfoy was looking his way in shock. Harry smirked at the blond haired trouble maker and mouthed 'I win'.

He enjoyed the show as Malfoy spent the next ten minutes cussing his head off, loudly. The rest of the Slytherins tried to calm him down, but he ignored them. Professor McGonagall ended up taking twenty points from them for all the cussing. Harry just grinned at the boy.

At the Ravenclaw table he spotted Hermione, but she gave him one look, huffed, and turned away as she buried her head in a book. Harry was a little disappointed that she would even do that, but she continued to ignore him for the rest of the week as well.

He even tried to talk to her several times, but she would turn a corner and vanish. He even looked at the ceilings, cause she did have some training, but never spotted her. After the first couple of times it became a challenge to him, but he never did find her.

An impressive feat even made Ranma a little thoughtful. Neither of them were sure how she was pulling it off, but Ranma said there were only about ten different ways and most of those could be ruled out because she was so young. Harry was thinking it was a ninja trick of some kind. The same kind Sasuke used to keep him hidden when he was spying on Ranma or the Tendos.

Harry was also searching for a way to pay Malfoy back for his recent actions. The little jerk didn't seem to know when to quit. Even when he lost twenty points, he spent the next several minutes sending a death glare towards Harry. Then the answer literally dropped into his lap by several owls towards the middle of breakfast. They flew in formation as they entered the hall and caught everyone's eyes as they gently glided down and dropped a long package right in his lap and flew off after stealing several pieces of bacon.

Ron glared at them as they flew off, then down at the empty plate of bacon, crumbs, and a few feathers. No one else seemed to say anything, but Harry thought it was funny. Ron was pretty laid back over all and tended to just glide along, but when it came to food, the boy could pack away quite a bit.

Harry examined the package and found a note telling him not to open it at the table. He could tell by the shape of the packaging that it was his broom though. Another note, it bounced off his head and landed on his plate, told him to meet Oliver Wood for his first official practice as the Gryffindor Seeker. Harry shrugged and smiled, for once he wasn't angry with anyone and things were going his way.

He handed the note to Ron, who was eating again, the red head gasped as he read it and looked like he wanted to take the broom, race outside, and ride it right then, and there. Harry got up and head for Gryffindor tower. He wanted to get a good look at the broom before he put it away. Ron quickly finished his breakfast and chased after him so he could see the broom as well. They were intercepted a few minutes later by Malfoy and his two friends.

The blond haired boy grabbed the package out of Harry's hands to see what it was. He sneered at Harry. "You're expelled now Potter. This is a broom and first years aren't allowed to have them. About time too, you've been befouling the air of this castle since you showed up Mudblood."

"You really want me to kick your ass, don't you?" Harry asked mildly.

"You're not wanted here." Malfoy said, reaching for his wand. "I'll make sure you remember this for a long time."

Grabbing the package back, Ron handed it back to Harry and rounded on Mafoy. "Well that is a Nimbus two thousand and it's a thousand timed better than anything you might have Malfoy! Was that a hint of jealously I heard in your voice a second ago? Mr. Comet Two Sixty?"

Harry just shook his head. He just couldn't figure out where Malfoy was coming from. No matter how many times they met, Malfoy seemed to just get worse and worse. Eventually one of them was going to just snap is this kept up. And of course Malfoy couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut.

"Ah, a Weasley, the Poor family that can't even afford the handle of a Comet Two Sixty. How about I give you a galleon, that way you can upgrade to something that really flies. I heard that even your house is such a hovel that its lopsided."

Ron turned red and started to lunge at Malfoy's smirking face, but Harry managed to grab Ron's arm before he got to far. "Not now."

"What?" Ron asked, turning to look at Harry.

"Trust me." Harry told him.

"Professor!" Malfoy yelled, suddenly grinning with glee.

"Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Flitwick said as he walked up.

"Potter has a broom."

The small teacher just grinned and nodded. "Ah, I heard from Minerva that Mr. Potter was getting one. What brand is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand sir." Harry said.

The short professor bounced happily, as he glanced at the package. Malfoy was starting to look a little worried that the professor wasn't yelling at Harry.

"I even have to thank Malfoy here, it's because of him that I was able to get one." Harry said and smiled at him. "Thank you."

Harry would never forget the look of pure rage on the boy's face. The little professor didn't seem to see the look, or ignored it. "Well you better get that back to your dorm Mr. Potter. Mr. Malfoy, shoo, you have class in a few minutes and don't want to be late."

They watched as the three Slytherins were herded down the corridor by Professor Flitwick and around the corner before laughing their heads off. Harry suddenly stopped, turned his head, and spotted Hermione at the other end of the corridor and raised his eyebrows. She turned her away and quickly vanished into a nearby room.

Ron didn't even notice. Not that he ever seemed to notice anything but food and Quiddich, even on his best day. Harry was really starting to wonder what was up with that girl. He just might have to track her down and force her to tell him what was going on. Then he figured she was just being a girl about this whole thing. He still wasn't quite sure why she was avoiding him, but figured she would tell him when she was ready. After all, nothing happened with the giant dog.

With that settled, he put her out of his mind completely, and headed back to the tower. Ron was talking about his favorite quiddich team again, but Harry had heard it before and just let the noise flow around him. He dropped his new broom off inside his trunk, tossing it on his bed. He was glad no one was there to see him shoving it through what appeared to be the headboard to his bed though. It would have been a little hard to explain.

Another thing he noticed as he moved through the trunk was that Ranma wasn't there. Harry knew Ranma liked to explore the castle during the day when there wasn't anything else to do. He also spotted another book set out for him to look at in the mini library, something to do with focusing his magic to get more use out of it. Shrugging, he considered his new broom again and wondered if the technique would improve his flying ability.

He wanted to take the broom out and fly it as soon as possible, even more than Ron, but there were morning classes to attend. Therefore, he spent most of the morning barely able to pay attention to his classes. This wasn't to much of a problem because of the techniques that Ranma taught him. Of course, Ranma tended to kick him in the head and bounce him off walls, but that was just a normal sparing session.

The clock seemed to move at a snail's pace as the day dragged on. By the time classes let out, he was bouncing around from foot to foot looking quite excited. He wanted to fly again and it was only minutes away. He vanished from his desk the instant the bell rang. Even Ron wasn't able to keep up with him as he dashed out of the classroom.

oooooooooo

-Six years ago-

Kneeling beside the fire, Ranma used a stick to stoke the campfire up a bit. He had several things on his mind. For the first time in his life, he was on his own with nothing hanging over his head. Just a few months ago his life was so screwed up that he was thinking of taking his own life to salvage everyone's honor.

Then the old pervert stepped in, and within a few days, his whole life was changed. All the girls had agreed to leave him alone so long as he gave them each a bit of time. At first he hadn't understood what they all wanted, but after spending nearly ten hours in Kodachi's bed, he learned just what they all wanted.

He could remember giving each of the girl's a several hours in his bed. Each time he learned something new and interesting about each of the girls. Things that truly surprised and shocked him. Kodachi liked to be dominated and forced. It drove her wild in bed. Ranma could remember every noise and expression she made as she taught him how to take her.

Talk about eye opening.

The next morning she simply kissed him and left the Tendo's guest room grinning widely, barely able to walk straight. At the time, he thought she would become even more obsessed, but instead she seemed to calm down. She hadn't even shown up for the next few days.

After that was a week of training, real training, with Happosai. The old pervert actually had a set of kata for the next level of the school the expanded on the core moves in extraordinary ways. Since Happosai didn't want either Genma or Soun to know the moves, both men were kept away from the dojo during the day. Usually by handing them a wad of money and telling them to go to one of the local bars.

Ranma marveled at how they would jump at the old man's suggestion and vanish for hours on end. He still didn't quite understand why they would do that either, but shrugged it off. For three hours each day Happosai would drill the new moves into Ranma's brain and body. By the end of the week Ranma was bruised, battered, and bleeding.

He had all the moves down though. Ranma could see why they were considered the master techniques too. According to the old man, this was just the physical side of the training. Over the next couple of months Happosai started to teach him about Ki and its many varied uses. Ranma wouldn't admit it, but he was impressed as hell that the pervert could come up with some of the ideas.

Even stranger, Happosai explained that he thought knowing the new moves would help him on the Mastery Quest. This went on Monday through Friday without fail for two months. Ranma wasn't sure if the weekends were what scared him the most or not, because that was when one of the girl's would show up and demand his attention.

With Kodachi out of the way, the next girl to share his bed was Shampoo. Unlike Kodachi, sleeping with Shampoo was a completely different story. It didn't help that his body was sore after having Happosai beat him up for a week solid. The purple haired girl taught him things in bed that still amazed him.

Being ignorant of sex had robbed him of a lot of experience over the years, but now knew why his mother wanted him to bed every girl came near him. Shampoo was into acrobatic sex, positions that a normal person couldn't maintain for long. Ranma was glad his endurance surpassed hers or he figured he would have ended up in China by the time he woke up fifteen hours and dozens of sessions later.

When she woke up, she pulled a potion out and quickly drank it, and then rubbed her stomach with a little grin on her face. Ranma knew what that meant and tried not to think about it to much as he recovered. She simply dressed, kissed him, and left. He hadn't seen her since.

Ranma didn't even want to think of his weekends with Ukyo and Akane. Those hadn't gone as well. Both of them wanted something more than just sex, no matter what they said to each other. He was just glad it was over with for now. Now, a year later, he was beginning his Mastery Quest and he wondered how long it would take him to complete it.

The old pervert had sat down one day, near the end of the second month. "Enough."

Ranma hadn't been to surprised. "Huh?"

"It's time for you to perform your Quest."

Ranma nodded.

"I've been considering this, and I think you need to do more than just find a new martial arts move. Your mother thinks you need some world experience and I happen to agree."

"World experience?"

Happosai nodded. "Genma was very lax in your upbringing. He raised you to be a tool for his retirement. You do know that?"

Ranma nodded. "He's whined about it a few times when he wasn't aware I was around. I have no intention of supporting his retirement, he can earn that himself."

"Good." Happosai said as he lit up his pipe. "Now, as a martial artist you are one of the best I've ever seen. Even that Ryoga boy can't really stand up to you these days. Yet I've seen you defeated by Nabiki on countless occasions. It's pathetic."

"I have not lost!" Ranma yelled.

"She's smarter than you Ranma." Happosai said, tapping him on forehead with his pipe. "She beats you just by talking to you and tricking you into doing anything she wants. I've seen her do it dozens of times. I will not have a stupid heir. You can act stupid, but you better not be."

Ranma poked the fire again, staring at the red hot coals. No matter how many times he went over it, the old man was correct. Two days later, his pack was by the front door. His mother told him that the quest was to become a strong and independent man. Happosai told him to find his true self and learn how to think as well as react to any situation.

There was no way he could do that in just a few short weeks. That was how he ended up wandering across half the world. Sometime over the last few months he had noticed that his Ki senses could feel a pull coming from some distant source, but he had no clue what it could be. Just that it might help him achieve his goal. He was just glad that he could come back to Nerima whenever he wanted to visit.

He glanced up at a nearby sign that told him that he was just entering England. It was damned cold, foggy, and rainy. That was why he was currently a red headed girl as well.

"This sucks." She grumbled under her breath and stoked the coals again, trying to stay warm. "Really, really sucks."

oooooooooo

The freedom that he felt when he was flying was something that Harry hadn't had chance to really experience for some time. When living with the cursed Dursleys they treated him like a slave, even locking him away for days on end if he couldn't do what he was told. A work load of chores that even an adult would be hard pressed to finish, let along a five year old kid. They rarely fed him, even at the best of times.

With Ranma it was the constant training, something he didn't always like, although Harry had to admit to himself that he preferred the freedom of movement that he had living with Ranma. He would always be grateful to Ranma for taking away from his abusive relatives. So he ran back to the tower, got his broom from a still empty trunk, and headed for the Quiddich pitch.

His broom was resting on his shoulder as he entered the area and glanced around. Stands stood on either side of the pitch, each able to hold a couple hundred people. At both ends of the stadium stood three poles with hoops on top, gleaming as the sun set in the background.

Eager to fly, he didn't wait for anyone to arrive before he launched into the air. For the next several minutes he flew through the hoops at high speed, across the pitch, and performed a number of acrobatic moves high above the stadium. It wasn't long before Oliver Wood was yelling for him to get down though.

He noticed a large wooden crate at Wood's feet as he landed a few yards away, shouldered his broom, and walked over to the grinning team captain. "Wood."

"Now I see what Professor McGonagall meant about your flying abilities. That was amazing."

Harry laughed nervously. "I was just practicing. I didn't want to make a fool out of myself if the broom didn't work."

"Heh, now listen up." For the next half hour Wood went through the rules for Quiddich in meticulous detail. Harry quickly realized that Quiddich was a lot more complicated than he thought. If he wasn't paying attention to the game, he would quickly mess up in one way or another. He was just glad that he was going to be the Seeker, one of the easier positions on the team.

It was also the most important position, but Harry wasn't as worried about that. As Wood wound down, after repeating the same rule for the third time, Harry pointed at the various items inside the wooden crate. "The Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle, the Keeper guards the goalposts, and the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team with those little bats and team work," Harry explained, to show that he had been listening.

He pointed at the Bludger as it quivered in the restraint harness inside the box. "Those things are used to knock players off their brooms. Have they ever killed anyone?"

Wood shook his head. "No, but they do break bones if you aren't fast enough to dodge. It's an accepted danger."

For some reason Harry didn't have a hard time believing that. "Right."

"Well, it has never at Hogwarts, but I've heard of it happening in professional matches."

"Oh fun."

"Not to worry, the Weasley twins are quite good and will keep the bludgers away from you as you look for the snitch."

"That little gold one with wings?"

"Yeah, it's going to be your job to catch it. It gives us one hundred and fifty points. Catching the snitch is the quickest way to wing the game. Unless the opposing team manages to have more points from scoring with the Quaffle."

Harry nodded. "I see."

"Now the Snitch, or Golden Snitch has a second use. Not only does catching it gain your team points, it's also the only way to end the Quiddich match. If it's not caught by either team, the game can drag on for days." Wood explained. "I think the longest ever recorded was just over three months long."

To Harry it sounded like a great way to spend several days. Racing through the air, weaving his way through the other players and searching for a tiny little ball. Maybe he could drag a couple of games out for the hell of it, just to see how people would react.

Of course Wood had training in mind, so a few minutes later Wood was up in the air with a bag of Golf balls, throwing them all over the place every few seconds and forcing Harry to catch them before they hit the ground.

Harry didn't miss even one of them, much to Wood's delight. However, there were several close calls and Harry did scrape the skin off his knuckles at one point. Eventually the sun went down and the lighting from the castle made it next to impossible to see the golf balls and they were forced to land and head inside.

"The cup is in the bag! I think you could beat Charlie Weasley and he could have played professionally!" Wood crowed.

Harry just tried to nod in the appropriate places and pretended to understand what the quiddich fanatic was talking about.

oooooooooo

He moved silently through the room. He could tell that no one had been here for some time now. Over the last couple of months Ranma had found dozens of unused classrooms on his daily explorations of the school. Each of them had its own unique look.

Ranma wasn't sure why any of these rooms weren't used anymore. He could take several guesses though. The odd thing was the complete lack of dust in any of the rooms. Ranma assumed it the rooms were protected by some kind of spell that kept the dust away over time. Those cleaning animals would come through periodically and get rid of the dust as well.

What had Harry called them? Ah, house elves. Apparently, the little things lived to enslave themselves, constantly cleaning, cooking, and doing whatever they were told to do. Ranma didn't really care though. The few times he even talked to the things they would insist that they didn't want to be freed from their bonds of slavery.

After having one nearly knock itself unconscious on the floor, Ranma had apologized and asked the thing to explain why. He had to admit that the little buggers had it made. They were creatures of magic, bred to do just what they were doing. If they weren't bonded to a building or a family they would die within a few short weeks.

Their unused magic would build up and kill them. So long as they were working they could live quite peacefully. They could also be quite loyal, and would burst into tears if you were ever nice to them. Ranma learned quite quickly to be firm and polite to the little buggers, otherwise they would stalk you.

They could be useful, but it was unsettling to wake up in the morning to find one of them standing on your chest staring at your face with their large eyes wide, trying to look adoring. Ranma wandered around the classroom and seriously wondered how he ever managed to get into these odd situations. Cats would converge on him like he was carrying a homing beacon.

Martial Artists from weird schools popped up every other month trying to prove that they were better than him because they managed to something like imbue Ki into Cheese Whiz and could throw potato chips like throwing stars. He was kind of used to it after all this time though, so he just went with the flow and accepted anything that came his way.

"Who are you?"

Ranma spun around and came face to face with one of the Hogwarts resident ghosts. This one didn't seemed to have any kind of shape though. Instead it was a formless mass, similar to a cloud, hovering in the air in front of it. He could just make out a pair of glowing eyes inside the mass.

"Come now, strangers aren't supposed to be in the castle. Who are you?" It said again, looking straight into him.

Ranma let his umisenken go and reappeared. He gave the thing a once over. "How did you know I was there?"

It chuckled. "I could hear your heart beat."

Ranma nodded. "I'm just exploring."

"You aren't dressed normally." It said, seeming to indicate his shirt and pants. "More like a Muggle."

He shrugged. "I don't like robes."

"So why are you in this part of the castle? Even the students don't come here that often. You're the first living soul I've seen in this room for over three hundred years."

Ranma whistled. "I knew this place hadn't been used in some time."

"This is the old Occlumancy classroom. It used to be a required class taught to all second years. It was a sad day when the class was removed from the rolls." The ghost said.

"What is Occlumancy?"

"It's a two fold art. It's main purpose is to guard the mind from intrusion and attack. It's secondary purpose is the main reason why the art was required in the first place. By learning to protect the mind you learn more about yourself, this allows for better focus and stronger spell casting. Kids these days don't have even a tenth of the power their spells should have." The ghost complained.

"That sounds useful." Ranma commented, hoping to distract the ghost a little. "Are there any books on the subject?"

"There should be some in the library somewhere." It said.

Crack!

"Master Ranma!"

Ranma groaned and looked down at the little house elf. "Hello Kamy."

She smiled up at him with those over sized eyes of hers again and her ears fluttered. "It's nearly noon, what would you like for lunch?"

"Ah…" Ranma cursed his stomach as it growled, making the house elf grin wider. "How about a couple of sandwiches? I'll eat here though."

"Yes sir!" Kamy yelled and vanished with another crack.

The ghost laughed. "Be nice to a house elf once and they are yours forever."

Groaning again, Ranma nodded. "So, this Occlumancy stuff, it sounds quite a bit like meditation."

"Close actually, but Occlumancy goes a few steps beyond that. To master the art you have to arrange your memories into categories and maintain those areas. Meditation just clears your mind and helps you to focus. Once that is done you can build defenses inside your mind with Occlumancy."

"This is sounding exactly like what I need for my student." Ranma explained. He started pacing, considering the idea. "Would it be possible for me to learn this art?"

The ghost shrugged, it's mass rising up and down once. "It's been said that a Muggle can learn the art, but I've never seen it done."

"By the way, what's your name?"

The ghost shrugged again. "I've been around for so long that I can't even maintain my shape for long, let along recall my name."

The ghostly mass shifted and swirled as it suddenly started pulling itself into a more humanoid shape. Seconds later a tall ghostly man with a goatee stood before Ranma. He was wearing some ancient looking robes. They were plainly decorated, tied at the waist, and slit up the sides to allow for easy leg movement.

Then the form dissolved back into the mass. The ghost sighed. "Sorry, I can't hold that form for long."

"No problem."

Crack! A small table appeared in the room. Kamy sat enough food for four people on the table, grinned shyly at Ranma, and then vanished. The food was enough to draw Ranma over to the table and seconds later, he was eating in his usual fashion. Once he finished eating, Ranma glanced around the room again. "Are you sure there aren't any books in here on Occlumancy?"

"There are books, but since you're a muggle, you can't get to them."

"Try me."

A tendril rose out of the mass and pointed at the wall. "There is a hidden book case over there. You need to place your hand on the wall and say the password, Book Case."

"Bookcase?"

"Old Professor Lightfoot wasn't into security and the books aren't all that dangerous. This was a second year subject after all."

Moving over to the wall, Ranma placed his hand, said the password, and nothing happened. He did feel something though. "Hmm…"

"See, a muggle can't access the case."

"I felt something."

The ghost blinked.

A bright blue line of energy swirled around Ranma's body as he flared a tiny bit of Ki and tried the password again. This time he felt a tug of some kind in his hand. The ghost floated over and had a fascinated look in his eye. "I was unaware that Muggles could access life energy."

"It's pretty rare." Ranma said as he considered the feeling in his hand.

"Even magic folk don't mess with life energy these days."

Reaching out, Ranma let his Ki coat the wall in front of him and he could sense the bookcase, its shape, several books, and even a few unknown items. The ghost backed off just as Ranma found something and gave it a little tug with his aura. The wall flared, filling the room with white light and when it cleared the bookcase was visible. Magic was sparking off the case, to the wall, and to the floor for several seconds.

Ranma ignored this as he ran his hands over the books. He didn't see the ghost race from the room seconds later, vanishing through the back wall. Grabbing a beginners book, Ranma sat down at the table and started to speed read. Kamy brought him some more food that he absentmindedly ate as he read.

She grinned at him every time he ate something.

oooooooooo

The next few weeks were a blur of activity for Harry as he practiced Quiddich three times a week, took all his classes, trained with Ranma, and was still expected to get his homework done. Then he had to add his practice sessions with Ranma in and Harry was one tired eleven year old boy. Ranma just smirked, called it all endurance training, and called him a wimp.

He hadn't even seen much of Hermione lately either. If she was still following him around she was doing a better job of it. On the other hand, Ron was acting odd as Halloween rolled around. The kid was a good friend, but he could be hot and cold at times. One day they would be best buddies, but then something would happen and he would give Harry the cold shoulder for a few days. It was rather strange really.

At first Harry wasn't sure what he was doing and asked Ranma about it, being that Ranma was the only adult figure he really trusted. Ranma didn't have a clue, but told him to meditate on the problem and take a closer look at his memories. That was how Harry found himself standing on his head, legs crossed as if he was sitting, for four hours reviewing the last few weeks of school.

Ranma took this time to try to distract him, which only worked a few times. Then Harry started to recall certain events that hadn't meant a thing to him at the time. The two of them would be in class and Harry would learn a new spell after a couple of tries. Ron on the other hand would end up spending two or three days to learn the spell.

"Jealously." Harry said and fell over.

"More than likely." Ranma said, as if he suspected it all along. "I used to have the same problem with fighting techniques. It earned me more than one enemy."

"But, why is he mad at me?" Harry asked.

"Because you are, in his mind, showing off." Ranma said with a frown. "Akane used to call me arrogant and a show off because I could show her up all the time. You are simply better at learning than he is. I've noticed that he doesn't apply himself to much either."

"I noticed that too, but didn't think it was that much of a problem. He barely does the required work for any of the classes. He does a little as possible and gets mad when anyone suggests that he do more. I figured it was normal for him."

Climbing to his feet, Harry nodded and headed for his kitchen to make a sandwich. The room was spotless, almost gleaming, and he wondered if the house elves were cleaning in here as well. "So, how do I deal with this?"

"I just ignored Akane and she eventually stopped."

"And you aren't to close to her these days."

Ranma shrugged. "She left, nothing I could do about that."

"You still miss her." Harry said, knowingly.

Now Ranma glared at him for a second, and then laughed. "You're getting better at that."

"Thought I had you there for a second."

"I was trained by Genma Saotome. He could piss off a rock with just a few words." Ranma said as he smirked.

They glared at each other, tensed, and attacked.

As the next few days passed Harry's fighting abilities grew quite a bit, much to the delight of the girls around the tower. Even though he was only eleven Harry's body was quite athletic already and well formed. More than once he would notice that the girls seemed to be paying more attention to him.

He wasn't sure why either. It wasn't as if he was encouraging it or anything and was only eleven years old. Ron on the other hand thought it was hilarious and teased him about it a few times. By the time Halloween rolled around Harry found himself pushing his body beyond its limits. Every minute of the day was taken up with one activity or another. Ranma just said his endurance training was paying off and smirked at him.

Harry spent a lot of time cussing.

He had classes during the day, then the Quiddich practices that could last hours, and after that would be several more hours of homework. Ranma kept him occupied in the mornings, teaching him new moves. If they weren't doing that, then the two of them were reading some of the books they picked up.

Ranma was getting a little frustrated that he couldn't pull off any of the spells too, even the simplest ones. Sure, he could copy some of the effects with his Ki, but he could never get Harry's wand to respond to him. The lack of success made their training quite intense as well.

Even though it was a busy time, Harry weathered it quite well and ended up rereading his books more than once. His potions classes even improved when Harry devised a simple chart for him to reference while working. So long as he had that, and Snape didn't see it, he rarely messed up anymore. However, that didn't keep Snape from dropping his potion attempts on the floor and giving him a failing grade.

A few days after Snape started to pull things like that was just about when the silent wind started to roar through the dungeons whenever he was around. The students didn't know what was causing it, but whenever it started things got weird. Snape was always the target and he was always alone when the wind would rush down the corridor. In one week alone Snape lost four robes and ended up spending the night in the hospital wing more than once.

One second he would be walking along, the next the wind would slam into him with the force of a tornado, lifting him in the air, and throwing him against the nearest wall. More often than not his robes would be ripped to shreds by the time the wind died down and he collapsed to the floor.

Then it happened to Draco Malfoy, Cabble, and Goyle as they picked on some first year Hufflepuffs. Surprisingly the wind never touched the Hufflepuffs, but it did toss the Slytherins down the hall and shred their clothing into confetti. Since Filch was in the area and heard the commotion he took fifty points from Slytherin and gave them all a week's detention.

After that, things were quiet until Halloween, which was when things got weird again. Harry was sure that he would never forget what happened. Of course, one doesn't forget a life or death battle. Ranma had the up earlier than normal on Halloween morning.

The two of them took their early morning showers in the trunk, when Ranma informed Harry of his plans. "Harry, I'm going to be out of the trunk again today." Ranma told him.

"Why?"

"I want to take a look at that library they have here."

"You haven't seen it?"

Ranma shook his head. "No, I've been meaning too, but I keep ending up outside for some reason."

"You're taking a wrong turn?"

"I don't think so, but who knows. Once I was in the dungeon, went through this doorway, and found myself down by the lake. I still can't figure out how that happened. For a minute, I thought Ryoga was pulling something on me. You know his bad sense of direction."

"This castle is full of secret passages and hidden rooms. I bet you found one of those!" Harry said excitedly.

"Maybe. I was going to look into that again and see if I could find anything else."

"You see anything else down there?"

Ranma eyed him for a sec. "A few things here and there, like that Defense teacher of yours. I keep seeing him down in the lowest parts of the castle, wandering around, mumbling to himself."

"Mumbling?"

"Yeah. I don't think he's quite all there."

Laughing, Harry nodded. "Yeah Quirrell is an oddball. His classroom has garlic hanging from the ceiling and he can't say three words together without stuttering. The class has to bite their tongues to keep from laughing at him when he tries to teach us anything."

"One thing I did notice about the man was that when I was near him I could feel something dangerous about him. Like when I fought some of those Musk Dynasty fighters a couple years ago."

oooooooooo

Harry was glad he had couple pair of pants left to wear as he headed for the ladder to leave the trunk. He tumbled out onto the bed and into a pile of school robes. Throwing the curtain to his bed open, after closing the trunk, he crawled off the bed. Only then did he notice the sudden silence.

With a robe and t-shirt in hand he turned around to see two girls gaping at him. He watched their eyes travel down his body, across his bare chest, down his legs, and back to his face. Ron, who the girls appeared to be talking to, seemed to be a bit confused at the girl's response.

"Parvati?" He said. "That's just Harry."

The girls seemed to glide across the room. The one in the lead, with the long dark hair in a braid, licked her lips and appeared to have forgotten how to blink as she gazed at him. "Harry Potter."

Harry smiled at her. "Hello, we haven't had a chance to meet each other yet."

The girls giggled and blushed a little at Harry's forward manner. Harry recognized Parvati's twin Padma in he Ravenclaw robes as well. No matter where they went, Ranma always stressed that he pay attention to the people around him in case of a potential attack. The third girl was another Gryffindor, Lavender Brown. All three of them were rather flushed.

"This is my twin sister Padma, and my friend Lavender." Parvati said.

Ron looked confused and a little irritated that the girls weren't talking to him anymore.

"Well Hello." He said, shaking the girl's hands and smiling at them. Ranma's Anything School of Charming the Ladies, Saotome Style always came in handy. Even if it tended to cause a lot of foot in the mouth problems. Harry was eleven, but he was a muscular eleven year old.

The girl giggled again.

Ron frowned.

Harry quickly donned his dark t-shirt, much to the girl's disappointment. "So what are you planning for Halloween?"

The girls all started to gush about costumes and the upcoming feast. Ron, much to Harry's shock, was starting to look like an angry red headed git again. It took several minutes, but Harry managed to steer the girl back over to Ron without being to obvious about it.

Then the girls groaned as Harry pulled his robes on. He was quite surprised to see them giving him disappointed looks as he adjusted the clothing. Somewhere off to the side he heard Ranma chuckle quietly. He gave the spot a glare and felt a pat on his back.

"Grin and bare it student." Ranma said quietly enough that no one would hear him. "Better the girls like you than hate you."

"Humph."

"Bed them all, mom will drag the details from you anyway."

Harry paled a little as Ranma moved off. He hadn't spoken to Ranma's mom in several months and she was constantly trying to hook him up with girls. The hoard of Amazons that just happened to pass by the house, happened to be her latest scheme. If she found out about these girls he'd be doomed. He was only eleven years old for crying out loud.

Sighing in defeat, Harry holstered his wand, adjusted his glasses, and headed for the door. "Ron, ready to head down the feast?"

The girls squealed and ran for their room to finish getting ready. Ron waved goodbye as they left and smirked, rather angrily, at Harry. "You seem to be quite the ladies man."

"I'm eleven." Harry said flatly.

"Yet that didn't stop you from flirting with them."

Harry grinned and sauntered past Ron. "True."

The red head gaped at him, and then heard snickering from the now empty room. He ran out the door and chased after Harry seconds later. The door, which was closing on its own, suddenly stopped for a second before it shut completely. Ron gaped at it for a second, shook his head, and continued after Harry. He was muttering something about ghosts and something called Peeves.

Ranma was about to head out the portal, still using the Umisenken, when he spotted something different. Everything in the room was glowing faintly. It was so subtle that he it was almost unnoticeable. He glanced at the portrait of the Fat Lady in pink and saw that it was also glowing, though the glow seemed to move around on the canvas itself.

"Weird." He muttered, thinking about it as he moved into the hallway.

oooooooooo

Author Notes: While I didn't 'show' certain scenes in this chapter and just told about them, this is because I condensed them a little to show what was going on. Harry is training harder than ever, Ranma is making sure that Harry is educated properly, and he's pushing Harry to be all he can be.

So to speak. :P

I also didn't mention Hermione in this chapter mostly because she wasn't around. She's mad at Harry as well, which is why she's avoiding him. As a Gryffindor she would have forced a talk, but as a Ravenclaw she's thinking the situation through before she acts. In other words, she's in the library with her nose buried in a large book.

oooooooooo

Omake:

A strange commotion filled the air outside the great hall just a few minutes before dinner was to be served. At first it was muffled by distance, but that soon changed as the students started to hear screams and yelling.

Dumbledore and McGonagall looked at each other in confusion. Just as they stood up to see what all the yelling was about, Fred and George Weasley burst through the giant doors to the great hall. They split up and raced down both sides of the Gryffindor table.

They weren't screaming, they looked like they were having the time of their life. Because not even a second later the true source of the screaming was revealed.

A house elf, a small female house elf holding a full sized broom as if it was a weapon of war.

"Bad, bad weezes!" The elf yelled.

"Now it wasn't that bad!" Fred yelled from behind Professor Dumbledore.

"Yeah!" George agreed. "It was all in fun!"

Twirling the broom around, an amazing feet in itself for such a small creature, she screamed as she spotted the twins and raced after them. The students could hear her cussing as they raced around the room. Down the length of one table, then up the other side, then over the top and underneath as well.

"No jokies in kitchens!" The house elf yelled when she caught them.

Five minutes later the house elf strutted out of the great hall with a broken broom over one shoulder and a smug look on her face. No one would ever know what the twins did, but everyone all knew they deserved it.


	12. Chapter 12

Notes: Just so everyone knows, Hermione isn't one of Ranma's children from when he bedded the girls. I hadn't even considered the idea till someone brought it up on a review. I give a bit of a clue at the end of this chaper about her training though. It's not what you might think either. All will be explained over the next few chapters along with the usual plot advancement.

oooooooooo Potter The Stone Chapter 12 By Cory D. Rose (c) 2005 oooooooooo

-Six years ago-

He was sitting in a small library reading yet another book. Over the last several months Ranma thought he might have read close to five hundred books. He wasn t even exaggerating the number either. He was just glad he could read them about fifty times faster than a normal person could.

Just another application of the old crone s chestnut fist training, but it worked great. That, along with a bit of focused meditation, and he could read about three pages a second. After that all he had to do was make sure he recalled everything he read.

He certainly didn t feel as ignorant as he used to feel and had even found several kinds of books that interested him. That didn t even count all the martial arts books he read on a daily basis. He liked the challenge some books gave him. His English was nearly perfect now and not just the odd word he used to know. He didn t even have an accent anymore.

Once he had that mastered, he found out about sword and sworcery books, fantasy, and even sci fi books. All of them gave him amazing ideas for his martial arts training. He even broke down and watched several movies like Star Wars and Conan. They hadn t been that accurate in some areas, but he thought they were entertaining enough.

This made him grin a little. Genma wouldn t have been able to recognize him if he saw him today. That didn t mean that the old Ranma was gone, just older and a lot wiser. Following Happosai s advice, he had was trying to learn all he could, but he still looked about the same.

His hair was still in a pigtail, but he was wearing a set of boots, black jeans, and a black t-shirt. His red jacket was over the back of the wooden chair he was sitting in. The chair was leaning back and his feet were propped up on the table as he read through his book.

For the last several weeks Ranma s wandering had taken him through a large part of London and into the outlaying areas. Each of them seemed to be several years out of date with the rest of the world. The people led a simple life for the most part, though he had witnessed a few crimes and such.

He was currently in Little Whinging public library, not that there was much there. The area was a bit odd too. Everything seemed to be a little to perfect. Lawns were identical in shape and size, the houses were cookie cutter and the looks the people gave him made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. As if they all thought he didn t belong there.

It was actually something Ranma wasn t used to dealing with. Normally he could ignore just about anything or blow it off, but this seemed to be on a whole new level. It gave him the willies really and he wanted to know why. Which is why he was at the library ignoring the scowl the old librarian seemed to be sending his way.

Ranma was just finishing his third book, this one detailing the areas history. What he found was kind of surprising, the whole town was one giant bore. Nothing of any major significance had ever happened in the town. Even the police were a bit odd if what he was reading was correct.

The one thing he did know was that he wasn t going to stay very long, not even the night. He was almost positive that if he did anything odd the police would be there to harass him within seconds. All this was from just a couple of history books, but from the way people were watching him, he knew that nothing much had changed.

Pulling his feet off the table, he snapped the book closed and came to his feet in one quick motion. He smirked a little as the librarian jumped a little and sent a death glare his way. He smiled and waved at her as he went to put his books back where he found them.

The old woman moved to keep as much of the counter between the two of them as she could as Ranma walked out the front door. Ranma wasn t the least bit surprised when the door shut and the woman was there to lock the door. Shaking his head, he turned and headed down the street. He was still a bit shocked as he moved down the street and actually heard doors locking, windows shutting, and people running inside when they saw him.

He could even see women peaking through the curtains as he walked back. They didn t look afraid either, they looked disapproving. Ranma just shook his head at the strange behavior. Several blocks later he was passing along another street of identical houses. It was only noon and he was considering taking to the roofs to get out of town faster, but the odd behavior told him that it might be a bad idea.

Then for the first time he head something. Very loud shouting was coming from one of the houses up ahead. He didn t think much of it at first, but that ended when he heard a very familiar sound. Flesh hitting flesh. He stopped and let his senses reach out into the area and nearly fell over in shock.

There was a power in the air unlike anything he d ever sensed before. A force that was nearly tangible as it pushed against his body, swirled around him, and mixed with his aura. He couldn t see the energy as he looked around though. It felt as if it was evaluating him in some way.

Frowning, he let a bit of his Ki out and tried to trace the power and started heading up the street. At the same time he heard the sound of flesh on flesh again along with quite a bit of cussing. Ranma could also feel several kinds of Ki in the air, fear, anger, rage, and one he didn t recognize. The last one surprised him and took him several seconds to reorganize, a dark glee.

Seconds later Ranma stood in front of number four, privet drive. Now that he was closer the sounds had actually lessoned and were barely noticeable. Ranma didn t think why he had heard the sounds though, he just walked up the little walk way and noticed the perfect little garden, the hedge bush around the property next to the fence, and meticulously cut lawn.

You little freak! This is the last straw! A man bellowed.

Smack! Ranma heard a high pitched voice cry out and he stuck over to one of the windows. What he saw didn t surprise him in the least, some large guy was beating up a little kid. The kid was no more than five or six and looked like he was already quite injured.

Off to the side an older woman was doing the dishes, ignoring the scene. Beside her another boy was cheering as the little boy was beat up.

You will never talk back to me again! The man yelled, hitting the boy with every word.

Show the freak, dad!

Seeing red, Ranma moved back over to the door. Ranma wanted to save the kid so he tapped the door with his finger and it detonated. The force of the explosion ruined the frame and shattered half the windows on the first floor. The whole family looked at him in fear.

The little kid was on the floor, bleeding, sobbing quietly. Even then he was trying to be quiet, but he wasn t able to.

Who the hell are you? Vernon yelled.

You just made the biggest mistake of your lives. Ranma growled as red aura flared around him and sent a burst of wind rushing through the house. Ranma cracked his knuckles and exploded into motion. The screams of rage soon turned to screams of fear. Neighbors quickly called the police when a large male body went flying out the living room window and ended up in the stuck in a hedge.

By the time the police arrived the house was quiet and they had to call in an ambulance to cart the Dursley family away. They didn t look for the forth member of the family, for Harry Potter didn t officially exist according to official records. Several neighbors witnessed the carnage, no one knows why, but they never mentioned the Dursley s freak house guest and couldn t really recall what Ranma looked like.

The wards around the house seemed to shimmer, they would go down a couple of months later, and alert Albus Dumbledore that something was wrong, but by then it would be far to late to track down Harry Potter.

oooooooooo

It was still quite early in the morning when Harry made his way down to breakfast. The castle was filled with the smell of baking pies. He instantly recognized pumpkin, but then he noticed rhubarb, cherry, and apple as well. Ron was practically salivating as they moved through the corridors as they tried to figure out where the smells were coming from.

Harry also noticed that several of the older girls from his house would turn and watch him as he walked by. Unlike before, he was sure they were staring at his shoulders and chest for some reason. Though when he turned to see if they needed anything, they would giggle and run off. This just left him a little confused, but they kept doing it.

Now Harry wasn t dumb and there was no way he could lie to himself when he had Ranma s mother as his Aunty. She insisted that all boys should be well grounded in how to be a man, but he was surprised that girls were noticing him this early. He was only eleven years old after all, that s why he was confused. He was sure he wouldn t have had to deal with girls for another two or three years, at least. This didn t mean that Aunty hadn t given him the talk yet.

She wanted him to be a peeping tom.

That was when he was nine years old and she always brought up girls when he was at her house. He thought it was kind of weird, but Ranma said it was normal. Just to please her he did occasionally peek at girls, but he just didn t see the appeal at the time. He was also thankful that he was at Hogwarts for the next few years. It meant some of the pressure was off.

He greeted Ron as he entered the great hall.

oooooooooo

A little while later Harry and Ron were in the Charms classroom when Professor Flitwick told them that he thought they were ready to try and make objects fly. All of the students started to look quite excited as they pulled out their wands to get ready. Flitwick quickly calmed everyone down.

He paired everyone up into two man teams so that they could work together. Surprisingly, Harry wasn t paired up with Ron, but instead got Seamus Finnigan instead. Seamus wasn t a bad partner, but Harry was seriously beginning to wonder if something was wrong with the boy.

At the same time, he had to smirk a little as Ron ended up with Neville Longbottom who seemed to be on the road to disaster already. No one was really sure why, but Neville seemed to have problems understanding how his magic worked and it always led to disaster. From the look on Ron s face, the red head knew he was in trouble before the class even started.

After Flitwick went through how to swish and flick the wand about a dozen times and made Neville s toad fly around the room, Harry had a pretty good idea what the Professor was talking about. His parents books had this spell listed as one of the first complicated spells they needed to master.

Ranma had drilled most of the first year books theory into him by now, along with making him answer questions from them as they practiced. Ranma had this way of pulling the oddest questions out of nowhere right when Harry was completely focused on his training.

After the demonstration, Flitwick passed out feathers out to all of them to practice on. Now, remember Shish and Flick!

Harry covertly rolled his eyes, brought his wand up and gave his wand a swish and flick, completely failing to do the spell. Flitwick seemed to smile more and more as the class continued follow his advice.

After several false starts he was able to get the feather to float for a second, before it fell back to the desk. For some reason no one seemed to notice. It was something that relieved Harry more than he wanted to admit. Of course, this left him a bit winded. Seamus on the other hand, along with most of the class had no such luck at all. Harry was just glad Flitwick hadn t noticed the floating feather.

That was amazing Harry. Seamus said and patted Harry on the shoulder.

I ve read the first year book about a dozen times now. I thought it would be easier than that. Harry said, looking a little frustrated.

I think you just tried to hard.

Maybe. Harry conceded.

Aiming is wand at the feather, Seamus face scrunched up in concentration, and with a swish and flick, the feather burst into flame. They jumped back in shock and Harry put the fire out by slapping the fire with the sleeve of his robe.

A couple of nearby girl s screamed. Then, they realized that Harry had put the fire out and they smiled at him. He edged away as they giggled. He was starting to recognize that odd glint girls got in their eyes as they looked at him now. Ranma called it Saotome Charm, though Harry called it a pain in the ass.

Ooops. Seamus muttered, blushing a little.

Now remember class, you have to pronounce the spell correctly. Professor Flitwick explained as he wandered around the room. He didn t say anything as he cleaned up the mess from the fire and gave them a new feather with a simple flick of his wand. The spell is Wingardium Leviosa!

Ron of course just waved his arms around, yelled the words, and made the feather flop over. He glared at it and tried several more times, but it wouldn t move after that. Flitwick showed them all several more times by the time class ended. By that time Harry was starting to understand what he was doing wrong and quietly, gave his wand a flick and made his feather float just above the desk.

That s great Harry. Seamus said, looking awed at the sight.

Remember what McGonagall said about channeling the magic down your arm and out your wand. Flitwick didn t say anything, but it seems to apply to all spells. Harry explained as he set the feather down.

Let s tell Professor Flitwick.

Harry shook his head. All this fame and crap is annoying, if I get the spell first, people will just treat me even worse.

Now Seamus was gaping at him.

They will. Let someone else get it first, they deserve the spot light for something they at least will earn. Harry said.

He didn t notice a few of the girls around him heard as well. They all seemed to start thinking something as Harry spoke. If Harry had seen them all nod at once, he would ve been more than a little frightened. They were giving him that look again and smiling at him.

All he saw was that Seamus now looked a bit confused, but he nodded. No problem, mate. I think I understand. Maybe Ron will figure it out here pretty soon.

WINGARDIAM LEBIOSA! Ron yelled, thrusting his wand at the feather. It turned blue and everyone goggled at it.

Of course Ron was cussing by the time class ended and lost Gryffindor twenty points. Even as they made their way down to the Great Hall he spent a great deal of time muttering under his breath about feathers. Harry had to resist the urge to laugh at his friend because it would just make things worse. The rest of the Gryffindor s didn t have that problem, which made Ron start to turn red.

Then just as they were sitting down to eat and grab something to drink, his hand stopped. He looked around the room to see if Ranma was pulling a surprise attack on him in the middle of a meal, but didn t see anything. There was something dangerous nearby. His danger sense wasn t as developed at Ranma s was, but it was enough pick up this. Ron hadn t even noticed as he filled his plate in a huff and started to eat.

Glancing around the Great Hall again, he noticed that Hermione wasn t at the Ravenclaw table. He couldn t recall a time when the girl wasn t there for a meal either, she always seemed to just be there. Ron, is there something going on that I don t know about?

Ron grunted and shrugged, stuffing a large piece of ham in his mouth. Just stupid feathers that refuse to float. He grumbled.

I m not too hungry, so I m Harry started to say. He looked worried too, his danger sense was screaming at him now. Something was seriously wrong and he couldn t figure out what it was.

Then the doors to the Great Hall flew open and Professor Quirrell ran in, a hand on his over sized turban. There s a Troll in the dungeons! Then fell to the floor in a complete faint.

Harry eyed the Professor. The instant the man ran into the room the danger increased even more. Something definitely wasn t right about the situation, and then he remembered that Ranma was out exploring the castle today.

Oh crap. There was a good chance that Ranma might have gotten himself into trouble again. People tended to jump to the strangest conclusions when he was around, as if they forgot what common sense was. Harry stood up to see if the idiot was alright, but he wouldn t even get a chance to check.

Quirrell yelling like that set off a riot as nearly everyone in the room started to yell and panic. Harry controlled himself purely out of habit and kept his guard up incase someone or something tried to attack him in the confusion. He even briefly considered removing his robe so that he would have some more freedom of movement. The blasted thing was like a cape with sleeves.

Professor Dumbledore fired off several large firecrackers from his wand, nearly deafening everyone in the hall. Harry winced away from the high pitched sound. It worked just enough to make everyone calm down and turn towards him. All Prefects, please lead the students back to their dorms and stay there.

Within minutes the students were filing out of the room in an orderly manner. Harry noticed that Percy Weasley seemed to be in his element as he started giving orders to all the first years and herding them to the doors with the others. Ron reluctantly started to help his brother a few seconds later, after Percy glared at him.

At the same time, Harry utilized his skills and exited the Great Hall, blending in with the crowd, and seemed to vanish down a secret passage a minute or so later. He didn t want to get Ron involved if he didn t have to. Harry wasn t even sure why he was so worried about the Hermione, but he was, so he had to check. She didn t even know the Troll was in the castle. He had a feeling that she would be in danger if he didn t find her soon.

The library. He muttered to himself, it was the best place to find his Ravenclaw friend.

Seconds later he was running down the hallway to the Library when he heard something odd and ducked behind a statue of a griffin. For the briefest of times Harry thought it might be Percy for some reason, but then the faint noise turned into running foot steps and Professor Snape ran by, a sneer on his face. What caught his attention, was that he wasn t headed for the dungeons like the other teachers, but higher into the castle.

Then he realized that Snape was heading in the direction of the third floor corridor. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure out why. Snape s actions didn t make any sense. The troll was down in the dungeon after all. Was Snape running away in fear? From a troll?

Harry shook his head and decided that the potions professor wasn t a coward. That meant that he might be going after something, perhaps one of the other teachers. He shrugged it off, Hermione was more important right now; he turned and headed back for the library. He would worry about Snape later on when he found Hermione. Then he noticed something else, the air wasn t full of the smell of baking pies anymore.

Instead it was starting to smell like a privy. They hadn t learned anything about trolls in class yet, so he wasn t sure what to expect, but he was positive that the smell came from the troll. His DADA book had only me mentioned them in passing near the end of the book. Even his parents books were kind of vague on trolls and only gave a basic description on them. He spotted the entrance to the library a few seconds later and dashed inside.

He didn t see Hermione anywhere and cursed under his breath, he wasn t sure where she would be if she wasn t here. Then a roar filled the room, followed by a loud scream, and an even louder crash from the far side of the library. Harry raced across the room, down a long stack of books near the Restricted Section of the library.

Just as he raced around the corner of a stack the smell filling the air increased by ten fold. Gagging, he came to a stop and saw the troll s back. The thing was nearly ten feet tall, green skin, and wearing a ratty loin cloth. It had a club raised up into the air.

Standing in front of the thing was Hermione. He was pleased to see that she was in an attack stance, perfectly balanced, and even with her glasses on, looked like she was ready to kick some ass. He didn t recognize her stance though, it wasn t a standard martial arts stance. Then he noticed that her arm was bleeding and that her robe was ripped down one side.

She was injured. His vision started to turn red.

Leave her alone! He yelled.

The troll spun around and roared at him. The club came crashing down, but Harry s face went blank as he entered his combat mode and just hopped onto the club. He missed the surprised look on Hermione s face as he suddenly raced forward and kicked the thing right in the nose. Its head snapped backwards with a savage twist.

Using his momentum, Harry jumped into the air and flipped over the thing s head. For a second he hung in the air, upside down, above the troll. He twisted around in mid air and landed. His foot pivoted the instant he touched the ground and spun, kicking it in the head with everything he had. It spun around and crashed to the floor where its head bounced a couple of times.

Harry came to a stop, making sure that Hermione was behind him. He wasn t aware that his aura was flaring into the visible spectrum. It took him several seconds to calm down. His aura quickly vanished.

Oh my Hermione said, a little shocked. Here eyes were wide with shock.

Come on, we need to get out of here before anyone knows what happened. Harry said.

But, the troll

Was supposedly in the dungeon. I have no idea why it was here. Harry explained as he grabbed her hand and started to drag her towards the door.

But the teachers should be told. Hermione said, pulling her hand back and coming to a stop. We need to let a teacher take care of that thing before it wakes up and starts all over again.

But

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE! Professor McGonagall yelled as she came into the library. Harry had to admit that he d never seen her, this angry before. Why aren t you in your dormitory?

Then Professor Snape and Quirrell entered the library. Indeed. Care to explain yourself, Potter? Snape asked after giving him a look of pure loathing. Or are showing off?

Hey! Hermione snapped. That stupid thing came in here while I was looking up something and attacked me!

All students were told to go back to their dormitories. Snape growled. Ten points from Ravenclaw for disobeying a professor.

I don t know what the hell your talking about! Hermione yelled right back. With her bushy brown hair the way it was, she looked dangerous enough to make Harry step back.

Twenty more points for lying to a professor. Snape growled.

Severus, stuff it. McGonagall snapped, startling the man. Potter, get back to your house, fifty points for disobeying a professor. Granger, you as well. Now move.

But Harry and Hermione said.

Now! Snape thundered, throwing them out of the library with a flick of his wand. Then the doors slammed shut and glowed blue for a second.

The two kids landed easily enough, rolling to their feet and looking equally angry at the doors. That was so unfair. Harry snapped.

I see why you wanted to get out of there now. Hermione said. I m sorry for fighting you.

Harry just nodded and then remembered that she was injured. Let me see your arm, it s still bleeding.

It s fine. She said, looking away.

I can at least dress the wound. Harry explained.

Let s just go to the hospital wing.

I don t know where that is.

Oh. Hermione said as Harry grabbed her arm and pushed the sleeve of her robe back. He examined the wound for several seconds.

It doesn t look to bad, but you should wash it out with water and wrap it at least.

Thanks. Hermione said, blushing a little. How did you do what you did in there though?

Which part?

Kicking that thing in the face and then flipping over it, and still having time to kick it so hard. It was incredible.

My guardian has been teaching me how to fight for some time now. Remember you met him that night with the dog.

Hermione nodded as they walked down the hallway. I ve got about five years training at a dojo near my house and I m top of my class. What you did was light years above my skill.

Well, I do tend to train about ten hours a day. Harry said. Ranma likes me to turn every situation into training.

How is that possible?

Well, say I have to read a couple of chapters in the transfiguration book. Ranma says sitting there reading is a waste of energy, so he makes me hang from a wooden beam support in the tower as I read. I have to keep from falling, read the chapter, and occasionally dodge if he throws something at me. Harry said, grinning a little.

That s a little much.

Ranma never does anything halfway. Harry said.

You got that right. Ranma said from behind them.

Hermione yelled and spun around, nearly tripping Harry in the process. Laughing, Ranma slowly became visible as he let the Umisenken go. He folded his arms and looked down at them. I watched your fight.

Harry just nodded.

You made several mistakes kid. Ranma said to Harry. You spent more time showing off with that kick than you needed to. The first kick to the nose stunned it.

I thought the second kick would put it down for the count and you taught me to take advantage of an opening while I was in the air sir.

Ranma smirked and nodded, thumping Harry on the head. Excellent, that s the confidence I like to see in my student. You also should have gotten the girl out of the way before you pulled something like that. What if that troll had fallen backwards and landed on her after that first kick?

Ah, I didn t think of that. Harry admitted.

Hermione paled a little, having not realized it either. Eeep!

You have the skill kid, but you don t have the experience yet. Ranma explained. Now, you seem to have lost your house quite a few points, they aren t going to be happy with you.

Harry groaned.

You ll have to earn them back by the end of the week. Ranma lectured, he glanced at Hermione s bleeding arm. But first, we need to help the injured.

She won t let me dress the wound. Harry explained.

Most girls won t. Ranma said as he knelt down and took her arm, making her blush again. She could see where Harry got his skills from now that she got a closer look at Ranma.

Ranma reached behind him and pulled a large bandage out of nowhere, making Hermione gasp. He quickly cleaned the wound, wrapped the bandage round her arm, and secured it in place. There you go.

Thank you.

My pleasure. Ranma said as he eyed her. I can show you a few moves if you want me too. You do have quite a bit of potential for martial arts.

I don t know.

Go for it. Harry said, grinning a little. Ranma is one of the best martial artists in the world.

Hermione was looking a bit faint now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off. I need to think about it.

Take your time. Ranma said as he stood up. I ll be here all year at the least.

Hermione nodded.

Excellent, you better get back to your house now. They might even start looking for you soon. Come along Harry, let s see if we can get back inside our own dormitory as well.

Harry turned to say goodbye to Hermione, but she was already gone. They moved back towards Gryffindor tower. Then Ranma turned invisible in mid step, though Harry could still feel a hand on his shoulder. Kid, I may have discovered something a little while ago.

What?

I m not sure why, but everything around me has started to give off a faint glow. I think I m starting to see the magic that fills this castle from top to bottom.

I haven t noticed anything like that. Harry said.

Well I did just notice it. Once I figure out how I m doing it I ll show you how as well.

Cool. Harry said as they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady.

There is more to that girl than she lets on as well.

Oh?

Did you noticed that stance she was in?

Harry nodded.

I ve only ever seen that stance once before and she wasn t balanced right. Ranma said.

Harry wasn t sure, but he thought he could hear a hint of anger in Ranma s voice. What was it from?

A martial arts style that was sealed a long time ago.

She s not supposed to know it?

Ranma shook his head. If she had used the move I was thinking of, I d have to go and track a guy down. Then beat the information out of him.

This made Harry gape. You would go that far?

A martial artists word is his bond. To break your word is to lose your honor and become a disgrace. I may have to have a talk with that girl later on. Ranma said. He still sounded a little angry.

Please don t be to hard on her.

You know be better than that kid. Ranma said, thumping him on the head.

Ow.

Ranma smirked.

Harry gave the password and they quickly entered. He ignored the glare that Percy sent his way, and headed right for his room. Since classes would be canceled for the rest of the day, he decided to get a couple hours of sleep. As for Ranma, he seemed to just vanish.

oooooooooo

Author Notes: The Demon Dursleys. I ve seen them shown in worse ways than in this story. I know the scene I showed is a bit quick, but I didn t want to dwell on just how bad Harry was. His accidental magic seems to always bring out the worse in the Dursleys. As you can see, Ranma has kidnapped Little Harry from the Dursleys. Harry s dreams have just come true.

Can anyone say hero warship? :P

I also changed the Troll scene. With Hermione being in a different house I figured changing the scene was warranted. Someone might point out that trolls are very tough characters with thick skin, making Harry s win kind of odd. I ll only point out that under Ranma, Harry has learned how to do quite a few things. Harry s physical strength is also increased by his Ki abilities. The Troll didn t stand a chance against that.

More on Ranma in the next chapter.

Omake:

Harry stood up to see if Quirrell was alright when something happened that just shouldn t happen to eleven year old boys. Several girls, screaming about tolls, saw him and tackled him from across the table. He went down in a pile of screaming teenage girls.

Now one must understand that Harry is taller than the normal eleven year old, so he looks a little older. He s also covered in muscles from six years of training with Ranma. These two things, plus Harry is viewed by most as the savior of the wizarding world, caused Harry s problem.

The girls, near the bottom of the pile realized that they were clutching at Harry Potter. Harry Potter s stomach felt like it was hard as a board as they pressed against him. His arms and legs were bursting with muscles. The tone of the girl s screaming changes as Harry struggles to get away.

Oh MAMA! Some girl yelled. He s MINE!

What a MAN!

Suddenly the hall quieted as they heard clothing ripping and Harry managed to crawl away from the girls. His robe was gone. Leaving him shirtless as he stood up. Thus allowing everyone in the room to see his muscular body, especially the girl s viewing him from the pile on the floor.

Like a wave they surged off the floor. Panicking, Harry ran for it as several girls dove at him, using the tables as a launching pad.

And thus, everyone forgot about the troll and Quirrell was trampled unconscious by a hoard of hormone addled girls. Ranma of course saw the whole thing from the other side of the room and laughed himself silly as little help me signs started to pop up around the pile of girls.

Help me?

I m only eleven!

It s the Ol Saotome Charm. Even if you are an adopted member of the family, it ll still get you.


	13. Chapter 13

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 13  
By Cory D. Rose  
© 2005  
oooooooooo

After the Halloween incident, Harry didn't do anything for the next few days but keep his head down and go to class. He noticed that most of his teachers would spend more time watching him in class than they did before, as if making sure he wasn't going to do anything else. Ranma just laughed and told him to ignore them.

As they entered November over the next few days, the temperature seemed to plunge over night. A coating of ice covered the lake and Harry even heard someone suggest that the whole thing was one large block of ice. It got so cold that the ground was starting to freeze as well.

They could even see Hagrid running around in a weird cold weather outfit defrosting the school brooms every morning. Ranma even commented that the big guy looked like a walking mound of fur coats. At the same time, Harry seemed to turn a little greener with each passing day. Quidditch season had begun and Harry, who hadn't played in an actual game yet, was a nervous wreck.

Weeks of training with the team three nights a week, early in the morning or after classes, kept his busy. That didn't keep him from worrying about how his first game would go. He didn't want to make a fool out of himself. Wood kept telling him about how they needed to win this game to be in second place for the Quidditch cup. What was even worse was that no one other than the team itself had seen Harry play.

Wood took measures to make sure that the other teams weren't around to see Harry practice. This made Harry the Gryffindor team's secret weapon, even though the knowledge did leak out. Harry figured it was Draco telling stories, but couldn't prove it. Therefore, he just ignored what people were saying about him, again.  
At the same time, Ranma was pushing him as well, to keep up with his school work and the daily martial arts practice. Although Ranma did let up a little bit on the days when there was a Quidditch practice. Ranma was fascinated by seeing brooms flying around at high speed without crashing into the ground.

Harry tried not to worry about the hints that Ranma was making about creating a kata for a flying broom. It was just too weird to think about. They also found a copy of Quidditch Through the Ages among the many books they took from Harry's family vault. It was full of information that explained everything that Wood hadn't explained, even after three weeks of practice.

There was the other change that caught Harry by surprise. Hermione wasn't following him around anymore. Instead, she was right there beside him in any of the classes they shared and even liked to eat lunch with him when she could. She was a lot more open now, opinionated, and rather bossy.

However, Harry didn't hold that against her since she liked to help him with his homework and was able to give him a push when he needed it. They were standing out side during one of the breaks between classes going over their homework from the morning classes. Hermione used a warming charm to keep them warm while they sitting there.

"Did anything interesting happen today?" Harry asked because Hermione was looking almost as nervous as he was.

"I'm just worried about your upcoming game. It looks so dangerous." She said, shuddering a little as she saw someone flying in the distance. It didn't help that the cover of Harry's book also showed someone flying a broom around the pitch.

Harry nodded. "I'm not worried about the game, but being in front of all those people. What if I screw up?"

"I hate flying." Hermione shuddered and looked away. "I can't believe you are even going to play this silly game. What if you die?"

Harry just laughed. "Madam Hooch said that our fear will keep us from flying if we let it. You need to relax and just enjoy flying. You're in complete control of the broom and it's nearly impossible to fall off, the charms make sure of that."

Hermione just looked at him and gave him a look that said 'I don't believe a word your saying.'

He held up his book of Quidditch Through the Ages. "It even says so in here and gives several charms that you can use on the basic broom to prevent you from falling, even while upside down."

"I looked through a copy of that in the library. I don't care what you say, this game is way too dangerous. Those Blugeet things are spelled to actually hit you and throw you off your broom, while you're in the air, and then you'll fall the ground. It's too dangerous." She insisted. "You're going to die!"

"It's all part of the game." Harry said, grinning a little. "I won't die either, Wood says no one has ever died in a school match."

"But what if you fall?"

"I won't fall. I've been flying for weeks and you can't even get on the team unless you are a very good flier."

Hermione pushed her lip out and glared at him stubbornly. The look almost made Harry fall over laughing; it just didn't look right on Hermione's face. Her glasses even helped to make her look odder than ever. Harry's shoulders started to shake as he looked away, trying not to laugh.

"Humph!" Hermione grumped as she stood up and stalked back into the castle.

"Hermione!" Harry called.

"Classes start here in a little while. We need to go." She called back.  
As Harry got up, he spotted the Weasley twins heading his way. They waved at him as they jogged on over. "Harry!"

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

"We saw…"

"…the whole thing!"

"That girl likes…"

"…you."

Harry shrugged. "She's a friend."

"The boy…"

"…is naïve, Brother."

"Yes, yes he is."

Harry frowned. "One, I'm only eleven and I'm too young to worry about a girlfriend. And two, why would she even like me in that way, she's only eleven herself."

"Girls mature long…"

"…before us boys."

"They Know." The twins said together, ominously.

Harry scoffed. "Yeah right."

The twins just grinned at him and laughed. "Time for…"

"…classes to start."

"You don't want to…'

"…let her beat you…

"To class."

Cursing, he ran into the school as the twins watched and laughed. However, Harry did have problems getting Hermione out of his mind now that the twins had pointed out that she might like him. He still considered himself to be way too young. The pack of giggling girls that followed him around seemed to have other ideas though.

oooooooooo

Once again Ranma found himself in the Occlumancy classroom once more. This was probably his tenth visit to the room since he found it several days ago. He hadn't seen the ghost since then, but he really didn't mind all that much. The ghosts around the school seemed to come and go as they pleased and were rarely seen during the day.

He'd gone through all the books as best he could. Memorizing the information in the books was rather easy, but he found that he still didn't fully understand some of the information in them. All those weird words he'd never seen before took forever to figure out.

That had forced him to start comparing information from the books in Harry's trunk library. It would take him some time to read all the remaining books. He was only about a fourth of the way through them as well. Up till now he figured he knew quite a bit of magical theory, but with the Occlumancy books, a lot of the information made more sense.

He was currently in his short sleeved red shirt, black pants outfit like normal, though the red silk shirt was a deep dark red and edged in black. Even after over a decade, he still preferred the style to normal clothing. He stood in the middle of the room with is hands out in front of him, with the palms facing each other. There was a look of intense concentration on his face as little bursts of static electricity bounced from palm to palm.

He wasn't trying to form a ball of Ki though, instead he was trying to pull raw magic into his hands and form a ball as he would a Ki sphere. He could still see the stuff on the walls all around the room, even on the floor and ceiling. The only problem is that he couldn't seem to get the stuff to cooperate. His Ki seemed to interact with it, but he couldn't seem to get the stuff to do what he wanted.

That's why his hands were arching with static electricity. The energy of the magic seemed to be bleeding off into the air instead of forming between his hands, as he wanted. It didn't help that he had no clue what he was doing wrong. He was very aware of how is body worked and could feel the energy as it flowed through his hands, but it was slippery and refused to do what he wanted.  
After several minutes of trying Ranma relaxed and took a deep breath. He'd been trying to pull this off for over three hours now. Each time he relaxed and started up again he tried to pull it off by focusing his aura in a slightly different way.

He had a feeling that he was on the right track through. At first, he hadn't been able to do anything, but then as the hours went by and continued to try, the static electricity started to form around his hands. He could 'see' that it was magic and not Ki. He could feel the energy as it flowed through his body. He was paying a lot of attention to where it went inside his body as well.

This was how he originally managed to access his first Ki blast. So he knew that it would work if he kept at it. Bringing his hands back up, he closed his eyes and focused on the Occlumancy training again. His face went blank as he let his aura reach out from his body and 'touch' the magic all around him. Sweat formed on his forehead as he touched the magic around him.

Instead of pulling it to him, this time he studied it with his aura, finding spots where he could tell it was either weak or strong. With his eyes closed he didn't see his blue aura slowly getting lighter and lighter, slowly turning a bright white.

His patience always paid off when he was learning a new technique. As the magic pulled away from the walls and floor, he let it go where it wanted to instead of trying to force and dominate it. His aura slowly started to turn transparent, concentrating around his chest, glowing as bright as a star.

Then his eyes snapped open and the aura vanished in an instant. Ranma gasped for air as he slowly dropped to one knee, completely exhausted. His head hung down as he tried to overcome a dizzy spell. It took him nearly five minutes before he managed to lurch back to his feet, stagger over to a chair, and collapse into it.

As soon as he could stand again Ranma came to his feet and performed a few stretches. Then sat down on the floor and started to meditate, rolling to the side and standing on his head with his legs crossed. He spent half an hour like that slowly recharging his Ki and examining his body inside and out.

By the time he was done he could tell that his Ki was slightly more fluid than it used to be. Before he started this, he could force it do anything it was trained for. Now it seemed like a thick water flowing through his body pulsing with power. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he would have to spend a few days examining the changes to make sure he didn't just do something stupid.

An hour later he strolled down the corridor, hidden with his Umisenken like usual, and headed back for the tower. Harry would still be in his afternoon classes, which gave Ranma a few more hours to explore and think. He reached an archway and stepped out on one of the landings that overlooked the entrance hall. Several students were running around down below.

Across the way Ranma spotted some movement and turned to see Professor Snape and Filch riding one of the staircases over to the third floor. He remembered the room that was over there and that three headed dog. Using his aura he tried to reach out and sense what the teacher was doing, but his body didn't want to cooperate with him.

Ranma hoped that he wouldn't have to push himself to this level of exhaustion every time he practiced this new technique. He sighed and turned, just as Peeves seemed to fly down from the ceiling and throw a bucket of dirty mop water all at him.

Splash! "Oh $#!"

Peeves cackled as he flew by. "Naughty little muggle! You shouldn't be running around Hogy warts! Peeves'll get you now!"

The water had caused Ranma to lose his concentration on the Umisenken as well as turning him into a red headed girl. She spit out a bit of water and wiped her face off as she glared at the poltergeist. "You will pay for that."

Peeves laughed and started throwing rotten fruit at her. "Take that muggle! BWHAHAHAHAH!"

Stepping out of the way, Ranma saw that several of the students had seen her and were pointing in her direction. She stepped back and fired a Ki blast at Peeves, but it dodged and raced down the hall, laughing. The Ki blast hit the ceiling and exploded, creating a small hole. Gritting her teeth, Ranma saw that a few of the older students were heading her way and pulling wands.

She would have to blast the blasted thing some other time. Cursing, she grabbed the rail and calmly jumped over the side. She fell two stories and landed with ease. She looked up to see the students gaping at her. She grinned and raced down the nearest corridor, vanishing in mid step.  
Several girls screamed.

oooooooooo

"Hey kid." Ranma said as Harry entered the kitchen later that night.

"Ranma."

"I saw something today you might want to know about."

"Like what?" Harry asked as he started to make a sandwich.

"That Professor of yours, Snape, was wandering around the third floor corridor along with Filch."

"What were they doing there?"

"I think Snape entered the room with that large dog. I didn't hear anything, I was busy with something else, but Snape came back out limping badly. Filch never went into the room either. Snape also left a trail of blood along the corridor as he headed back for the dungeons." Ranma explained. She had retraced her steps over to the area after dodging the students.

"The dog got him?"

Ranma nodded.

"Good."

"The guy's a jerk, but I've met people a lot worse."

This just made Harry shrug. "Snape has gone out of his way to make me hate him. I'm almost to the point where he'll be on the same list as the Dursleys. I can't even have one class with him without losing the house points, he's insulting, bitter, and a complete jerk. Let him suffer a little."

Ranma shrugged. "Alright, but I think you're wrong about him."

"Why do you say that? You've even attacked him a couple of times for his actions. Don't think I don't know. Those winds of yours are very familiar." Harry snapped.

"Well, he's a jerk. I'll admit that, but so are Mouse, Ryoga, and Kuno. You met them all and know how they are."

Harry nodded. They went to Nerima every Christmas. He knew Ranma's friends and rivals quite well.

"Well I've taken a look at Snape's aura on several occasions and it tells me that he's a good person. He's just a jerk about things, like students, you, the teachers, you, the world, and you of course." Ranma smirked.

"Oh, ha ha." Harry muttered.

"See, so lay off the guy. There's probably a good reason for his actions and we need to find out what they are."

"If he was in the room with that dog, is it possible he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding?"

Ranma shrugged. "Got me, but I doubt it. You'll just have to watch him if you want to know."

"Whatever. He's a git."

"Mom sends her love as well." Ranma said out of the blue. "She wants us to try and make it back for the winter holidays."

"Can we even leave?" Harry wondered.

"I don't see why not, but I'd like to have more time to work on your training over the winter holiday."

"We'll have to come up with a plan."

"Already got something in mind and it's dead simple." Ranma explained.

"Like what?"

"You'll see." Ranma said with a smirk.

"Cut that out!"

More smirking.

"AGHAAAA!"

"Ha! To slow!"

oooooooooo

It was nearly time and Harry felt like he was walking to his doom. He shuddered a bit as he sat down in the Great Hall the next morning, surrounded by the smell of sausage and eggs. There was an energy in the air as all the houses anticipated the upcoming quidditch match.

Harry looked at his food and couldn't eat a bit of it. Even the smell was making him nauseous. His stomach was growling at him though. "Ungh." He muttered, sitting his fork down.

"Come on Harry, you have to eat something." Ron said, placing a mountain of eggs on Harry's plate. "Just eat that and you'll be fine"  
Harry looked a little green.

"You do need your strength Harry." Seamus said from his place on the other side of the table.

"I'm not hungry." Harry snapped, he felt horrible.

The game was just an hour away. About the only thing that made Harry eat anything was that Ranma always encouraged him to eat whenever he could. Still, he only managed to choke down a few sausages and a slice of bread. By then it was nearly eleven in the morning and he was forced out to the quidditch pitch.

Unsteadily, he trekked over to his other team mates as they watched the stands fill with students. He shuddered as he realized that all of them were going to be watching him play today. However, he got a laugh a little while later when he spotted a banner hanging off the Gryffindor stands with his name blinking in different colors. He had a feeling that the twins had a hand in creating the thing.

They were all dressed in red robes, wearing some pads, and thick leather gloves to protect the hands. Wood was worried about the extreme cold, so he made sure they were all using warming charms as well. Harry didn't really hear Wood's speech as they mounted their brooms though, he was still worried about playing in front of everyone. They flew out into the main field to the cheers of the crowd, quickly flying around the pitch to warm up before the game.

This was exactly what Harry needed to get over his growing fear. After two laps, they broke off and headed for their positions. He went up a little higher than normal, scanned the area, and entered his center to calm his mind. He noticed that Madam Hooch below him, refereeing the game as well.

A few minutes later the Slytherins took the field and did their turn around the pitch in their green robes, and took up their positions. Hooch released the Quaffle, then the Bludgers, and finally the Snitch that shot off and vanished instantly. With a loud blow of her whistle, he game started.

Centered as he was, Harry watched the game out of the corner of his eye as he slowly moved in a spiral pattern around the pitch. He was looking for the small glint of gold that the Snitch would put off as it moved around erratically. He heard Lee Jordan as he called the game, but only in the back of his mind, even when McGonagall yelled at him for favoring Gryffindor.

Both teams moved across the field, dodging bludgers until Angela snuck a quaffle through one of the Slytherin goal posts. Harry did a mid air twist with his broom to avoid a bludgers heading his way and let the twins take care of it. He could was a lot closer to the ground now and could see that even Hagrid had come to the game.

Then he saw the snitch. Gritting his teeth he plunged through a small formation of Slytherins below him, making them scatter and curse. He didn't take his eye of the snitch though, but the Slytherin seeker had also spotted the little golden prize.

He reached out his hand just as a green blur dived at him and slammed a shoulder into Harry's back, sending him spinning through the air. The crowd yelled in outrage and Lee Jordan insulted the Slytherins. Harry quickly got control, but the snitch wasn't there anymore and the Slytherins were laughing at him. Harry growled and adjusted his glasses.

Hooch called a foul on Slytherin and gave Gryffindor a free shot at the Slytherin goals. Gasping for air, Harry shot across the pitch, once again looking for the snitch. He ignored Jordan calling for the Slytherins to be kicked out of the game for cheating. Harry had expected something like this from a house with their reputation.

Then something weird happened as he slowed to a stop above the game again. His broom, a brand new one, gave a sudden lurch, as if it was trying to buck him off. For a brief second he thought he was going to fall and wondered what he'd done to make it do this. He was just glad he was using his center to keep his emotions under his control and to think straight.

The broom lurched again, this time twisting savagely and nearly throwing him again. He gripped the handle tighter in shock. The broom was completely out of his control now, he couldn't get it to do anything at all as he tried to make it land.

In the stands Hermione gasped as she realized that Harry's face had acquired the same look he had when he fought the troll. Completely determined as if it was made out of stone, even his eyes seemed to shine a little brighter. Everyone else was just starting to realize that something was wrong too.

Staying on the broom was like riding a bull, but then it seemed to settle down a little and Harry was able to get his bearings. He took a deep breath, still fighting the broom, and looked towards the ground. Then he saw Hermione looking not at him, but across the stands, to where Snape was…staring right at him, muttering under his breath.

'Is he Jinxing the broom?' Harry thought to himself.

"Harry, let us help." Fred called as he tried to get close.

"The broom is bucking too much." Harry said. "Look at the stands, at Snape!"

The twins looked down and frowned, looking angry. "Why that little…"

"He might be casting the counter Jinx." George said as he tried to help as well, but couldn't get a hand on Harry's broom.

Harry just started to look angry. He reached into his robe and quickly pulled out a throwing star. He always carried a few on him for emergencies. The twins didn't see what Harry was doing though as they hovered below him in case he fell. They would be able to catch him easily then.

Rolling the star around his fingers, getting the right grip on it, he drew his arm back, and threw it. He heard the twins gasp. The star flew across the field, heading right for Snape. It was also glowing a bright red as it spun right for the center of Snape's chest. The potions master gasped, lost his concentration, and heard a commotion off to the side.

Hermione was also moving and held her wand towards Snape just as the man dove to the side. The throwing star impacted the bench where Snape was sitting without a loud 'thunk'. It echoed loud enough for everyone to hear it and sent several students scrambling away.

Snape's dive sent him careening into Professor Quirrell and sent both men tumbling. The broom suddenly stopped bucking and Harry was able to get it back under his complete control.

"Wicked!" The twins yelled at the growing chaos and panic in the stands below.

Harry just folded his arms and glared around him, twirling a second throwing star in his gloved hand. His broom was under his control again so he didn't think he would need the second star. As things calmed down he could see several students crawling over to where Snape was sitting and touching the star, embedded several inches into the magically hardened wood.

It would spark every time someone poked it with his or her wand. Snape and Quirrell recovered quickly though and started to bring the crowd back under control with help from Madam Hooch. Every now and then one of the men would look up at Harry with an odd look, then turn away and continue working with the crowd. Harry put his star back and moved down the twins. "Thanks for the help guys."

"That was incredible!" Fred yelled.

"Stupendous!" George yelled at the same time. They both grinned.

Harry just shook his head. "I'm not sure what Snape was up to, but he just ticked me off officially."

The twins nodded.

A sudden glint of gold sent Harry into an instant dive. He blew by the Slytherin seeker, missing him by inches and sending the guy spinning away. Harry leveled off and caught the snitch.

Sorta.

It bounced from his gloved hand, to his shoulder, and off his head. He had to spin around and catch it on his second try. This time he caught it correctly. He held it up as quick as he could. Hooch grumbled a bit, but said the catch was legal because no one called a time out during Harry's strange broom ride.

The Slytherin team was pissed. They glared at the Gryffindor team as everyone headed back to the castle, but Harry ignored them. He quickly landed at the edge of the field and dismounted. His hands were starting to shake now that the whole thing was over.

"Ya'alright 'arry?" Hagrid asked, looking slightly pale.

Harry nodded. "Why did Snape try to attack me?"

The large man scoffed as Hermione and Ron ran over to them. "Professor Snape would never do a thing like that."

"I saw him Hagrid. It was Snape." Harry insisted.

"I saw him too." Hermione said. "He was Jinxing Harry's broom."

"He wouldn't do that!" Hagrid said, his voice rising a little louder.

Harry growled. "Yeah right, then tell me what ripped up his leg? He tried to get past that dog in the third floor corridor."

"What!" Hermione and Ron yelled.

"He was bitten by that dog on Halloween. Must have been trying to steal what that giant dog was protecting." Harry muttered to himself.

"Ya know 'bout Fluffy?" He gasped. "Ow could yer possibly know…"

"Snape is trying to steal it." Harry growled. "And he just tried to kill me."

"He is not! Rubbish!" Hagrid thundered, slapping his hand down on one of the seats, rattling the whole structure. "He's a teacher, he wouldn't do such a thing."

"Then why did he try to kill me? I saw him with my own eyes casting that Jinx"  
Ron nodded.

Hagrid looked panicky. "You aught not know about this stuff! Snape wouldn't eva do such a thing! Now yer meddlin with somethin that concerns only Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel…I shouldn't 'ave said that."

"So there someone else involved now!" Harry yelled as he jumped up.  
Hagrid just groaned as the kids headed towards the school. "I best tell Dumbledore bout this." Hagrid grumbled.

oooooooooo

Up in the stands the throwing star seemed to slowly fade away. A second later the board seamed to buckle and crack. Several students heard the noise and looked up just in time to see the board shatter. Looking fearful, they decided that it might be a good idea to leave the area for a while.

No one really noticed that Professor Snape and Quirrell were nowhere to be seen by then. The two of them had vanished almost as soon as the stands were nearly empty and students were heading back to the school.

Ranma, cloaked by the Umisenken, held the throwing star up and shook his head. He'd come to watch the game and seen the whole thing. He'd have to give the kid some kind of reward for making a throw like that from thirty feet away, on an unsteady broom, and still managed to hit his target.  
Even if it moved out of the way.

oooooooooo

Six years ago-

Harry's six year old body was a broken mess. That was about the only way Ranma could describe what he was looking at. The boy's arm was twisted at an odd angle. Red welts covered his back and legs from where the large man was beating him with the switch. That was why Ranma was entering the park a few blocks from the Dursley house after removing the kid from the house.

He had used some of the Umisenken to vanish from sight as he raced across the rooftops. Ranma wasn't sure why the kid was in this kind of situation either. He couldn't understand why anyone would treat a child like this. The kid coughed up a little blood just as Ranma landed in the park and raced over to a small grove of trees. He wanted to be away from the people in this strange town as much as possible.

He lay the boy down on the ground and pulled a first aid from stuff space. One of the few things his Mastery Quest taught him was that he no longer had Genma to depend on anymore. He was making his own decisions now and that meant being prepared for anything that came up.

This meant even a kid beaten to within an inch of his life. Ranma quickly ripped the oversized shirt off the kid and tossed it to the side. He wasn't wearing underwear, just a pair of large shorts that were about to fall apart.

Frowning, he removed these too. Welts and several scars covered the kid's body from head to toe and all of them were a bright red color. He was about to infuse a large amount of Ki into the kid's body to heal the wounds when he noticed that they were healing on their own. Ranma was impressed. Even at six, he hadn't been able to heal wounds like this. He was still recovering from the Neko-ken training and chasing his buddy Ukyo around for dinner.

Ranma focused his Ki and let it flow over the kid's body. He could feel something deep within the kid that was pulsing with life and healing the wounds. It was like Ki, but didn't feel like any kind of Ki he had ever come across before. Intrigued, Ranma used a bit more Ki and started helping the kid heal his larger wounds.

He was amazed as the kid's energy picked up on what he was doing and started speeding up the process. Within an hour, the kid was completely healed except for an odd scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt. Ranma channeled his Ki directly to the scar.

The kid whimpered and thrashed around, trying to ward something off. Ranma stopped a second later when noticed blood running from the scar on the kid's head. Frowning he took a closer look at the scar and nearly recoiled from the kid as he sensed something incredibly dangerous.

"This isn't right." Ranma muttered to himself.

The kid's eyes fluttered open to reveal a pair of bright green eyes. They were slightly out of focus. "Uncle Vernon, I'm sorry…"

"Kid, you don't have to worry about that fat jerk again."

"Who are you?"

"I saw what your uncle was doing and stopped him. I'm afraid I may have hurt him a bit." Ranma said.

"So I'm not at the house anymore?"

"No." Ranma said. "I took you from the house about an hour ago. Right now we're at the park a few blocks away among a grove of trees. What's your name kid?"

"Harry Potter."

"Call me Ranma Saotome."

"I don't want to go back to that place." Harry said, his voice cracked fearfully.

Ranma nodded. "I won't let you go back. I took you from there to save your life."

The boy nodded, ducking his head down and cringing a little. "W-where are my glasses?"

"Sorry kid, I didn't see any when we were leaving."

"I can survive without them for a little while."

"You seem pretty smart for your age."

Harry laughed bitterly. "I'm six going on fifty."

Nodding, Ranma could sympathize with that. "I know what you mean. I'll have to tell you about my early life some time."

Reaching behind himself, Ranma pulled his travel pack out of stuff space and dropped on the ground beside him. He dug around inside for several seconds and pulled out a small bottle of water. He handed it to the kid. "Here you go, drink that down. It will help you recover from all the Ki you just lost healing yourself."

Harry gave Ranma a weird look. "What's Ki?"

"You don't know? You were using quite a bit of it to heal yourself."

The boy shook his head. "Never even heard the word before."

Ranma looked down at the kid. "I wasn't sure if you were doing it consciously or unconsciously, guess that answers my question."

"I don't understand."

"I'll explain later when you're stronger."

"C-can we get something t-to eat then?"

Shaking his head, Ranma looked down at the kid. "I've been in this town for less than one day and I'm not sure I would even be allowed to enter any of the businesses around here. They seemed to shun anyone that doesn't live here for some reason. The librarian locked me out of the library the second I left the building and looked afraid."

Harry nodded. "Little Whinging is a town that prides itself on being 'normal', to the point of being abnormal." The kid gave a small laugh, then paled and started shaking.

Child abuse caused all sorts of problems. Ranma was familiar with several of those from his own experience and a number of the books he read while on his Quest. He survived his father's abuses and he could tell that this kid had an inner strength that rivaled most adults. He grinned at the kid. "Kid, is there some where save that I can take you to?"

"N-not really." Harry muttered.

"Guess that means we'll have to take things one day at a time. I think I'll give my mother a call and see what she has to say. I won't take you back to those…"

"The Dursleys."

"…abusive idiots. If you stick with me kid I may be accused of kidnapping you once I leave the area."

"I can't go back. I'll stay with you, please!" Harry nearly panicked.

"Calm down." Ranma said as he dug around in his pack again. He pulled out a small electric stove and sat it on the ground. "Let's cook up some dinner."

"I'm naked." Harry suddenly observed in shock.

"Huh?" Ranma muttered, and looked back at the kid. "Oh yeah, I had to get rid of those rags you were wearing."

The kid was starting to look nervous, but Ranma just grinned and dug around in his pack. I may have something here for you to wear. It will be a little big, but we can make some adjustments."

Harry looked shocked as Ranma pulled an expensive looking red shirt out of the pack and tossed it to him. He caught it and didn't know what to do with it. Instead he just held it to his chest and tried to keep from crying. No one had ever given him anything before.

He sniffled.

"Now, pull the shirt on." Ranma said, handing the kid a small black belt.

"Now, some pants…"

As Harry scrambled into the red clothing, Ranma pulled a pair of shorts out of his pack and handed them to the kid. "Use the belt to keep these in place and I'll buy you a couple of outfits tomorrow after I talk to my mother."

"You d-don't have to trouble yourself over me." Harry muttered, looking embarrassed.

Ranma snorted. The kid was a filthy mess, covered in leaves, dirt, and all of it stuck to his skin by dried blood. The kid needed a bath as much as he needed to sleep. Ranma pulled his bed roll out of the pack and sat it down ground. "I know it's still a bit early, but I think you should get to sleep after we finish eating. Tomorrow we can make any decisions that need to be made, but for tonight you're safe."

Harry nodded.

oooooooooo

Author Notes: I am NOT a fan of Quidditch and agree with Hermione, who cares. It's a silly game. Still, this chapter needed to be written. Man I had to struggle though this thing. So once again, it doesn't take much to set Harry's temper off and this time it was Professor Snape. Even though everyone saw Harry throw the star, most of them don't really understand what happened. They just saw the effects.

Snape's reaction will be in the next chapter along with some other changes to the original plot and no he won't be calling for Harry's expulsion. Also, skill wise, Harry is just around Akane's skill level near the end of the anime. Ranma has really been pushing the kid for the last five years so that throw, enhanced by magic, was possible.

Omake:

"Class, this 'ere is a Choku." Hagrid said. He grinned down at the little black and white animal. "They be a might dangerous, but with precautions…"

"It's a penguin." Draco Malfoy snapped. "Everyone knows what they look like, you great big oaf!"

"Wrong Mr. Malfoy, and ten pointes from Slytherin for that remark.

The blonde boy snorted. "Yeah right."

The Choku hissed and waddled around a little, looking irritated. Hagrid backed up a few steps.

"Please, I'm not going to be afraid of a useless bird." Draco snapped. He stalked over to Choku.

"Yer best not be doin that…" Hagrid said.  
Draco blew him off and knelt down next to the thing. "It's a bloody penguin I tell you!"

"Hiss!"

Draco's eyes widened as the Choku suddenly towered above him, made a weird squawk, and suddenly bent down to eat him!

"Bloody hell!"

The whole class started laughing as the Choku belched and looked pleased with himself. It waddled back over to Hagrid, now towering over the half giant. Hagrid sighed.

"Hagrid, we have to save him!" Harry said.

"I did try to warn him that Choku are dangerous." Hagrid said, then smirked a little. "Now we just have to wait for the Choku to pass him, since we can't just pull him out."

The whole class looked appalled, well the Slytherins. The Gryffindors were trying not to fall over laughing.

The Choku was looking a little green and started eyeing Crabbe and Goyle.


	14. Chapter 14

Note: I'm not into writing relationship stories so you don't have to worry about Harry and Hermione snogging any time soon. I'm kind of baffled why I'm getting emails about the relationship in the story at this early stage. They are only eleven after all, even if Harry is a bit more worldly than a cannon Harry. I want Harry and Hermione to be friends, if I have them in a ship later on, it won't be till book five or six at least, when they are of age. Even then, it won't mess with the story much. Relationships ruin the plot of the story. 

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 14  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

-Five years ago-

Six year old Harry Potter raced through the front yard as fast as he could move as a humanoid shadow rose into the air above him. It threw something at him and Harry dove to the side, rolled, and came to his feet. A small explosion went off and the air was full of white powder.

The shadow landed, revealing a teenaged girl with long brown hair. She grinned as Harry started running again, quickly vanishing into the trees. A second blur hopped out of a nearby tree and landed next to her.

"Ukyo."

"Ran-chan." She said.

"You get him yet?"

Ukyo pouted. "Where did he learn to dodge like that?"

"Apparently he's had problems with bullies all his life. He learned a trick or two."

"Ah, that explains quite a bit." She said. "Well sugar, back to work. I want to see why you decided to train this kid."

"You'll see." Ranma said and vanished from sight.

Ukyo raced off after Harry and took to the trees. By that time Harry was about a hundred yards away. He had changed direction three times and was nearly to the safe point. He knew he was close, but the girl Ranma had chasing him was good at tracking him down.

She had even seen past the one trap he set up to get her to back off. Looking around, he spotted a fallen tree and a small mountain of leaves, and decided to try another trick. He quickly found a tree branch that he could actually use. It only took him about two minutes to set up the trap.

Over the last several weeks, him and Ranma had stowed away on a plane and arrived in Tokyo Japan after a few hours in the air. Ranma had explained that it wasn't the best way to travel, but that he needed to get them out of the country for a few months.

Harry really didn't care why they were leaving. He was just glad to get away from his idiot relatives. Every time Harry though of the Dursleys he had to resist the urge to go and hurt them. At first he just wanted to get away from them, but as time passed his rage just multiplied itself.

Because of this Ranma was trying to get him to control his anger and kept mentioning someone named Akane and trying to explain why uncontrolled anger was such a bad idea. Ranma called what he was teaching Controlled Rage. He said that being angry was fine, but by channeling the rage he felt into movement and exercise, it could be used in a constructive manner.

He looked up as he heard something heading his way and grabbed the stick and set it so a little tension was felt. That set the trap, so Harry quickly hid behind a tree and knelt down to watch, he was half buried in leaves. He didn't see the shadow land in the branches above him though.

The approaching noise quickly vanished as Ukyo raced into the small clearing, bouncing off a tree, and landing softly. She glanced around and stared at the pile of leaves for a second, then took a step forward. She felt something move below her foot.

"Ah nuts…"

Like stepping on a rake, the branch was curved in such away it spring up from underneath the leaves. This launched a storm of leaves right at Ukyo as she sprang back and into the air. Harry raced out from behind the tree, stomped on two more branches, and sent more leaves flying into the air before turning and racing back into the trees.

Ukyo cursed as she landed and took off after him as quickly as she could. She glanced up at Ranma in the trees above as she passed by. The kid was proving to be quite good at Martial Arts Hide and Seek, though right now they weren't fighting over hiding spots. She just had to catch him.

"Hah, look at him go." Ranma called, watching Harry run.

She ran after him and quickly had him in sight again. She took to the trees and started gaining a bit of height. Harry wasn't watching his back that well, so Ukyo pulled another flour bomb out and tossed it at him. He twitch to the side and dodged the flour.

Cursing, Ukyo wasn't about to let the kid get away with that. She launched three more in quick succession. They were aimed at where he might go, not at the kid himself. Harry dodged the first one with a smirk, but the second one slammed into his head and exploded into a small white cloud. It was when the third one hit that something odd happened.

It flew in half a second behind the second one and appeared to hit something about two feet from the kid. The bomb exploded into another large white cloud and enveloped the trees all around the kid. Ukyo landed and raced right up to the edge of the cloud and looked around.

About five feet away, she saw the kid kneeling on the ground with his arms crossed in front of his face. Ranma landed nearby and walked over and they gaped at the kid. Harry was completely devoid of flour as well as the ground about two feet in every direction.

"What the heck?" Ukyo muttered. "Is that a Ki shield?"

Ranma shrugged. "I don't think so. I'm not sure what he did, but it would be a handy thing to learn."

"No kidding." Ukyo muttered. "We need to get the flour out of the air as quickly as we can."

"Why?"

"It's slightly flammable."

Ranma gave her a weird look. "You could have told me."

"I added a few things to the mix to make it less dangerous and removed the gun powder that I usually mix in. Its safe enough, we just have to be careful and let it settle and then water it down."

"Right." Ranma nodded. "Good thing this its been raining every couple of days."

Ukyo just nodded as Harry finally looked up at them.

"Oh no, not again." He muttered, looking quite scared.

"Hey kid, are you alright?"

Tears started running down Harry's face as he curled into a ball. "Please don't hurt me."

"Harry!" Ranma yelled and ran over to him. The kid was shivering and trying not to cry. "Uc-chan, what's wrong with him?"

"I'm not sure, sugar. Let's get him back to the house." She suggested.

oooooooooo

A couple of days after the game, Ranma entered the Owlery. This wouldn't have been that noteworthy, except that Ranma was in female form. She grits her teeth as she entered the large room and glanced around at all the owls. They seemed to be aware that she was there, even though she was invisible to normal sight.

"Hoot." Harry's Owl said.

"Hedwig, good to see you." Ranma said, appearing in front of the owl. It didn't seem surprised to see Ranma. "I need to send a long distance letter, very long distance. All the way to Japan…"

The owl hopped to her head, flew out the Owlery entrance and quickly vanished. Eye twitching, Ranma glared after the owl. "Traitor."

"Hoot!"

"Same to you!" She yelled.

Then a large brown and grey owl landed on her shoulder and held out its leg. "Whoo."

"You're willing to go that far?"

It nodded.

Ranma did a little dance and tied the letter to the owl's leg. She even gave it several Knuts in a little bag on the other leg. "I need you to go to Nodoka Saotome, my mother. She's in Tokyo, Japan. Juban district." Ranma explained and brought up a vision of her in her mind.

The owl seemed to concentrate for several seconds, nipped Ranma's ear, making Ranma squawk, and took off. The other owls hooted as Ranma stalked out of the Owlery a few seconds later, vanishing in mid step.

"Bloody owls!"

Ranma was still grumbling as she made her way out the front doors of the castle. The doors were easy enough to open, she just had to make sure no one was around to see them open on their own. Ranma was getting a little tired of running around invisible all the time, but it was needed at the moment.

She sighed as she looked out across the darkened grounds. The forest was barely visible this late at night, but she could still see a number of lights in the windows of the castle. She sent her aura out to make sure no one was around as she ran across the ground.

Seconds later she entered green house seven. Now all she had to do was dodge the more aggressive plants, jump one of the hedges, and find that weird looking purple flower again. Luckily, there was a lot of it around this place. Ranma was a bit surprised though, Cologne had explained that finding the plant was harder than using it.

Ten minutes later, she stepped around a tree. A long tendril was hanging from her neck and her pants were missing. Grumbling, she stalked over to the purple flower and glared at it.

"You are so lucky I need you." She muttered to it.

oooooooooo

"I want him expelled!" Severus Snape yelled. "He tired to kill me!"

"No Severus." Albus said.

"That brat threw something at me! It could have killed me! I want him gone!" Snape yelled.

"This is no evidence that such a thing happened." Dumbledore explained.

"There were hundreds of witnesses!"

"I've been asking around Severus, no one really recalls what happened. Just that you suddenly dived on Quirrell and everything turned to chaos after that. No one really recalls anything until Harry caught the Snitch."

"Then he Obliviated the students!"

"A first year? Severus, even you can't believe that?" Albus Dumbledore said.

Snape's mouth snapped closed and his eyes narrowed. "The bench…"

"Quite amazing really, when I went to look at the evidence there was this large hole. Right where you were sitting. It looked as if someone had just ripped it out for some reason."

"You're not doing this to save the brat are you Albus?" Snape growled.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Of course not, but it's a happy accident. Harry needs to finish his schooling and I'd bet he thinks you tried to hurt him Severus. After all, a counter jinx looks just like a jinx when cast." Dumbledore said mildly.

"I don't care what the brat thinks."

"And that is why you have so many problems with him."

Snape stalked out of the Headmaster's office with his robes billing behind him. He was so angry that several students dove into unused rooms as he stalked back to his office. Neville Longbottom was nearly run over as he scrambled to get out of the way.

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" Snape snarled as he noticed Neville.

"Ah man."

oooooooooo

After the Quiddich match, Harry's free time seemed to vanish. For some reason Ranma started to work him harder than ever, pushing him till he was so worn out that he could barely attend his classes. Harry was just glad that Ranma forced him to study and train at the same time or he would never have been able to keep up with his classes. Ranma didn't say why, but Harry could tell that Ranma was punishing him for something.

The only thing that it could be was that throwing star, but Ranma never came out and said it. Therefore, Harry just buckled down and took everything that Ranma had to give him. Harry also noticed something else when he wasn't training or doing reams of homework.

No one was asking about the star incident anymore. At first the questions were non stop, but then they just seemed to dry up over night. Even the Weasley twins seemed to have forgotten it ever happened. Harry found that extremely odd because they where right there when he threw the star. He'd even asked them what was going on.

"Hey guys, about that thing with Snape…"

"Snape?" Fred asked.

"What happened with Snape?" George asked. "Was it…"

"…funny?"

"You were there when I did it."

"What!"

"Sorry mate, got not clue…"

"…what you're talking about."

Harry gaped at them. "The throwing star?"

"A shooting star?" Fred asked.

"Where?" George asked, looking out the window.

"The throwing star! The one I threw at Snape!"

"Oh, a meteor."

"No! Star!"

"Of course! You're a super star!" Fred exclaimed.

"Right famous you are too, why everyone knows your name!" George said, grinning widely.

"AGHAAAAA!" Harry yelled and walked away.

The twins looked at each other in confusion, and then grinned. "I don't know what we did…"

"…but it was brilliant!"

They started laughing. Then they sobered and looked at each other. "Got the…"

"..potion?"

Fred nodded.

George grinned. "Animated Snowballs!"

They raced out of the common room, giggling. A sound that would send a chill down the spine of anyone that heard it. However, by that time Harry was already descending back into the trunk. He was very confused and wondered if Ranma had done anything to cause it. As he entered the front room he spotted Ranma dumping some purple flowers in the trash bin.

"What are those?"

"Just some herbs." Ranma said with a shrug. "How's your day been going?"

"Pretty good, all though I've come close to nodding off in the middle of class a couple of times. But that's because of all the training I've been doing lately."

Ranma grunted and finished closing up his pack. "I've got a new move to show you today."

"Oh?"

"Yep, but training will take two weeks. Most of your vacation."

"So we aren't going to visit Aunty?"

"Not this year, we don't have access to a phone or a plane to get back to Japan and you know how long it would take us to walk that distance."

Harry shuddered. He never wanted to walk across the continent again. He would hitch a ride on a plane before he let that happen. "Ah well, good thing I put my name down on the list to stay here."

"They had a list?"

Harry nodded.

Ranma gave him a look. "Also, remember we usually stay in Japan for two months during the holidays. We won't be able to do that for the next seven years."

"True, I hadn't thought about that."

"I sent an owl to mom about the situation."

"YOU WHAT!"

"Sent an owl, even paid the thing like that book on post owls said." Ranma said.

Harry started sputtering. "What if someone saw you?"

"I always move around using the Umisenken, they can't see me."

"When will Hedgwig be back?"

"I didn't send Hedgwig."

"You didn't…"

Ranma folded his arms. "Your bird, refused to deliver the letter. So I had to use a larger bird."

"He refused?"

"Actually, he heard my request and then flew off before I could tie the letter to his leg."

"Ah, right."

"Now about that training. We need to increase your strength before you can learn the new move, so we'll be working on that for the next few days." Ranma pulled what looked like a fishing vest out of nowhere and handed it to Harry. "Put that on."

Taking the vest, Harry crashed to the ground under its weight. "This thing weighs a ton!"

"Not even close." Ranma said with a grin. "Now put it on, with a bit of Ki manipulation you should be able to adjust to the weight over the next few days. In two weeks you will be at least twice as strong as you are now."

"But…"

"Come on, come on. This is just the first step and you need to be in better shape as well."

"I'm only eleven!"

"So?"

"I'm too young!"

"A likely excuse." Ranma waved off the rest of Harry's protests.

A few minutes later Harry had the vest on. "This is stupid."

"It's worked for thousands of martial artists across the world, it will work for you." Ranma said, then handed Harry some arm and leg weights. "Put these on too."

Grumbling, Harry put the weight around his wrists and ankles. "Done."

Ranma gave him a push for the training room. "Let's get to work, and remember to concentrate on your Ki. The sooner you learn this, the better. Especially with the way you play that Quiddich thing. Dangerous sport that."

oooooooooo

Coming down the hallway was a giant evergreen tree with a pair of legs and boots jutting from the sides as it walked. The sight confused Harry for a few seconds before he realized that it was Hagrid carrying the tree. He ran over to the tree and peaked around at Hagrid.

"Hi."

"Arry!" Hagrid said. "How ya doin this find day."

"I'm cold as hell."

"I 'ear ya." Hagrid said with a laugh. "I need to get this tree to the Great Hall. Just the first of four of der suckers."

"They're all going to be made up for Christmas?"

"Yep!"

"Wow." Harry said in awe. Even with Ranma's family, they only ever used one tree and it always looked the same. He couldn't even imagine what the hall would look like when it was done.

"You better run along now." Hagrid told him as he reached the entrance hall, swung the massive tree around, and started shoving the thing through the doors.

"Hey you big oaf!" A voice yelled from inside the hall.

"Bugger off, ya lump." Hagrid said and continued to push the tree inside.

Harry heard some cussing on the other end. A few seconds later Hagrid got the giant thing inside and started moving across the hall, holding the tree above his head. He winced as the outer edges of the tree brushed several Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students off their benches.

"Sorry, comin through." Hagrid called.

Then Harry noticed that Draco Malfoy was standing near the doors glaring at Hagrid. The boy hadn't noticed him yet.

"Malfoy."

The blonde's head spun around. "Potter." He sneered.

"Seems there's room to go through now."

"Indeed." The blonde said, waving for his two tag alongs to follow him. "So orphan boy, going to sit here and cry all Christmas?"

Harry grinned a little. "Nope, I get free rein of the castle."

"Well we all know that without your mudblood mother, you can't do anything, and most of the world wants you dead. So, enjoy your freedom." Draco said as he walked off, laughing.

Glowering, Harry thought about using a hex he just learned, but Hermione distracted him.

"Hi Harry, today's our last day!" She said happily.

"You heading home?"

She nodded. "It's been a while. Mom and Dad say they want to show me something when I get home." Hermione knew that mentioning her family wouldn't insult Harry. "What did Draco want?"

"Just the usual insults about me and my family." Harry said with a shrug.

"So what will you do while I'm gone?"

Harry sighed. "Training, Ranma has already started. He's got me wearing weighted clothing."

The girl gave him a look over. "I can't tell."

"It's a weighted vest, leg weights, and wrist weights." He said, pulling back the sleeve of his robe to show them to her.

"How much are you wearing?"

"I'm not sure, Ranma wouldn't say. Every time I asked he would step up our sparing session." Harry said with a shrug. It's heavy, but not to bad so I should adjust in a day or two."

Hermione nodded. "I see. Does he have you doing anything else?"

"Just the usual exercises."

She looked away for a second. "I'll try and send you something for Christmas, okay?"

Harry shrugged. "You don't have to. I wasn't really planning on celebrating Christmas this year. I'm usually in Japan by now, with Ranma's family. It's always a lot of fun. He always gets into a fight with someone. They just pop and attack him."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, last year this fry cook got mad at Ranma and attacked him over a loaf of bread. What was strange is that the guy thought Ranma was someone from ten years ago who stole the bread."

Hermione giggled. "He certainly leads and interesting life."

"You should see him when he's fighting for real. I've never seen anything like it before."

"I might have to see if he'll train me sometime. Though with all this homework we have around here, I don't know."

"Got me, he might if he thinks you're worth it. But he has a hard time really hitting girls."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he showed this girl something once. Instead of hitting her, he would dance around her attacks, and tap her where he would have hit her. It drives some girls up a wall in frustration though, just so you know."

"I bet it would." She said, then blinked and remembered something. "I've been looking around for that name that Hagrid mentioned a few days ago, Nicolas Flamel. He doesn't appear to be in the library, the main one or the Ravenclaw library."

"Ravenclaw has its own library?"

"Yep, about half the size of the Hogwart's library and more in depth on spell theory. Anyway, about Flamel?"

"In all the excitement I'd nearly forgotten about that guy."

"Well if you can, try and look for him while I'm away. Study too, that way I won't have to help with your homework as much." She smirked at him.

"Hey!"

Giggling, she kissed his cheek and ran down the hall.

Harry blinked, confused. "What was that for."

oooooooooo

Once the holidays started, Ranma really started to take Harry's training up a notch, pushing him back to the ten hours a day schedule for the first week, then increasing that. Harry did have free time to himself though. A fact that Ranma insisted on actually, giving him three hours of every day to relax and mess around. Harry usually spent that screwing around with Ron, who seemed to be a bit lonely when Harry wasn't around.

However, he did take the time to sit down with Ron to play Wizard's Chess. The little pieces were exactly like a regular chess set, but these pieces moved around and tried to give the player advice. They were also rude, insulting, conniving, and worked against you if they didn't like you.

Ron thought it was hilarious.

"So, where do you disappear to all the time?"

"Just training. I can't loose my edge or my guardian will retrain me, from the beginning."

Ron gave him a confused look.

"Martial arts?"

"I don't know anything about being married." Ron said, looking fearful.

That sent Harry to floor laughing.

"What?"

"Martial arts, hand to hand combat training. Using your hands and feet to defend yourself."

"Why would you do something stupid like that? Your wand can protect you from anything." Ron said with typical pureblood ignorance.

"What in the world would you do if you lost your wand?" Harry asked.

"Why would I lose my wand?"

"Say someone snapped it, how would you fight then?"

Ron paled. "You aren't going to snap my wand!"

"I never said I would."

"You just did!"

"That was only an example. I just want to know how you would fight if you didn't have your wand."

"I'd be dead."

"Huh?"

"The only way I'll not have my wand is when I'm dead." Ron said, nodded at his logic and placed Harry's queen in checkmate again. All the pieces gave Harry the red eye.

Sighing, Harry got up and headed for bed. He was just glad it was Christmas Eve because Ranma usually gave him the day off from training, to a point anyway. He usually had to do some thing or another. His first Christmas he had to help Aunty Nodoka decorate the tree, using only his feet.

The next year he was asked to hang the lights around the house. Ranma made him swing around the house like a monkey to string the lights with his feet. Every year it was something different and strange, yet it would always teach him something new. Which Ranma would then force him to master before the end of the year. This usually led to some new technique.

"Get up!"

Harry almost jumped out of bed, almost. Instead, he sat up, blinked a few times, and glared at Ron. "What?"

"It's Christmas! Open your presents!"

Crawling to the end of his bed, he looked down and saw several presents waiting for him. He blinked a few times. "Why would I have presents?"

"Well duh! It's Christmas!"

Vaulting off the end of the bed, he knelt down to examine the first one. A long package, neatly stuck under the length of his bed. Confused, Harry pulled out it out and examined the dark brown paper. The attached note said 'To Harry from Hagrid'.

It was a hand carved staff made out of a wood Harry didn't recognize. Ron was watching him. Harry spun the staff a few times and grinned a little. The thing was balanced, perfectly. He'd have to get Ranma to look it over.

"What's with the tree branch?" Ron asked.

Harry fell face first to the floor. He groaned.

"What?"

"Never mind." Harry insisted and sat the staff on the bed.

He turned back to the small pile and grabbed the next one. It turned out to be a green sweater. "Ah, clothing."

"That's from my mum." Ron said, eyeing the shirt. "She gives one to everyone in the family. Look there at the bottom of the box, its fudge. I told her in a letter you might not get much, so she must have sent this."

Harry carefully sat the sweater on the bed, sampled the fudge, and shared it with Ron. After that, he turned back to the pile and noticed that he only had three presents left. Harry really hadn't expected anything at all and figured all his presents would have to wait until summer when they could be sent from Japan.

The next one was a present from Hermione. He pulled the wrapping off and tossed it to the side. He found himself holding a book of some sort. She was in Ravenclaw so he wasn't surprised, but then he opened it. The pages seemed to be blank. "I think it's a journal?"

Ron looked it over. "I guess, not very useful though."

Harry shrugged and sat it next to the staff. "I'll look a little closer later."

He moved onto the next present. One from Ranma. He took a few minutes to examine it, looking for traps. Ranma did like to trick him from time to time. After that he opened it. "A pair of wand holsters?"

"Oooh!" Ron said, awed. "Those are a nice set. One for your arm and another for your leg. You need to keep them oiled until you learn how to use a preservation charm, but you should learn that in a year or two."

"Cool." Harry wondered where Ranma managed to get the things. He shrugged and moved onto his next package. This one was a little bigger and felt soft to the touch. He opened it and a silvery cloth material fell out, gleaming in the light from the torches around the room. "What the heck? A cloak?"

The cloth reminded Harry of water in some ways. He quickly donned it and heard Ron gasp, again. He turned and gave the red headed boy a look. "What?"

"Look down."

Blinking, Harry did just that and found that his whole body was invisible. He gasped. "What the heck!"

"It's an invisibility cloak! Those are super rare and really expensive!"

Harry could hear the jealousy in Ron's voice. "Who could have sent this? And why?"

"There's a note on the floor." Ron pointed to it.

Harry read the note out loud. "This was left in my possession many years ago by your father, it's time it was returned. Have fun and don't get caught! Merry Christmas."

"Who's it from?"

"Doesn't say."

"Fred and George would offer to have your baby for that cloak."

"Ewww!"

Ron just nodded. "So your father used to own this cloak, I wonder what he used it for. The Ministry restricts their use and ownership."

"Got me, probably to sneak out and explore the castle or something." He said as he took off the cloak folded it, and tossed it in his trunk. It would take a bit of thought to figure out the best way to use the cloak.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, though Harry had to admit that the dinner put on by the school was quite a sight. He'd never seen so much food in his life and this was coming from someone that knew how much a Saotome male could pack away. Ron of course ate so much he got sick, but that was all part of the fun.

He went back for more later on. When no one was watching, he noticed that food just seemed to vanish off the tables. Harry liked the part when he saw one of the turkeys just vanished into thin air, then a couple of pies, bread, and many other things. He was sure that when he got back to the trunk he'd find the fridge quite full of leftovers.

Later on, after everyone was in bed, Harry was still wide awake. Without Ranma pushing him to his limits for hours on end, he had more energy than normal. Even the weighted clothing wasn't bothering him much anymore. He was feeling restless. Then as Ron made some kind of noise in his sleep, Harry thought about his invisibility cloak. His father's cloak and what it could mean.

The thing opened the whole of Hogwarts to exploration. There were places he couldn't go as a student, but with the cloak that changed everything. Flich wouldn't know he was around. Peeves wouldn't rat him out this time. It was enough to make Harry giddy with excitement, but he managed to control himself as he grabbed his cloak.

He pulled hood over his head and vanished completely as he made his way down the stairs and out the portrait hole. The Fat Lady was snoring softly as he passed by, unaware that he was leaving. Grinning, he made his way down the corridor, checking out some of the side corridors he hadn't checked before.

Eventually he found his way to the entrance to the library and paused as he considered the dark doorway. He thought about Hermione for a second and remembered that he was supposed to look around for Nicolas Flamel's name while she was gone. He hadn't looked at one book since she left.

Of course, he had been distracted by everything that was going on over the last few days. That and being insulted by magic chess pieces for being such a bad chess player. Shrugging, he figured he could read for hours of he draped the cloak over him and the book and used a spell to make some light and hid it with the cloak.

Entering the library, he made his way to the back areas. The Restricted section was darker than the rest of the library and roped off as well. Like the rest of the school, the whole area was a bit of a maze. One he passed the rope he wouldn't know where he was anymore. He'd have to be careful where he went.

He scanned the area before he lifted the rope and entered the restricted section. Because of his parents school books he had learned a few spells outside what the teachers were showing them in class. So he whispered a spell under his breath and the end of hi wand lit up like a flash light. He aimed it at the books and examined the leather bound books with their pealing gold lettering.

A book caught his eye and he pulled it off the shelf and opened it to check the index, but the book had other plans. It started screaming loud enough for the people in Hogsmead to hear it. He slammed the book shut, but it didn't muffle the sound at all.

He realized that it was an alarm of some kind. Glancing around, he dropped the book, made sure his cloak was hiding him completely, and ran for it. Even then, he could hear people running down the hallway, right for the library. Then he heard Filch's voice.

Harry wasn't really paying attention to where he was as he ran through the library, so he quickly lost his way. He eventually stopped beside a suit of armor to get his bearings, but he had no clue where he was. Then things got worse as Harry realized that Professor Snape was with Filch. They were looking for whoever was in the restricted section.

Then things got worse as both of them came around the corner, swiftly walking down the hall, looking around. As usual Filch looked like he wanted to kill someone and Snape was irritated. Probably for being disturbed this late at night because a student was causing problems.

Seconds after they passed Harry spotted a slightly open door just a few paces away, almost hidden in the shadows of the corridor. He quickly ducked into the room and relaxed for the first time since the book started screaming. After a few minutes he heard the two older men's foot steps vanish.

Looking around the room he was in, Harry noticed all the old desks and chairs piled along the walls. Then an object near the back, covered with a sheet that was about to fall off, was a large mirror. Nearly eight feet high with a frame of golden wood. He walked over and wondered why anyone would put a large mirror in a place like this.

He could make some writing near the top, bit it was so dark in the room that he couldn't really read what it said. So he stepped in front of the mirror and gasped. Spinning around, he confirmed that the room was indeed empty, but as he turned back to the mirror he could see himself with a lot of people in the background.

Then the people started to slowly vanish, though he recognized Aunty Saotome, Kasumi Tendo, and even his Aunt Petunia. Though his aunt looked a little irritated to be among all these other people, she was glaring at them. Then she too vanished, leaving only two people Harry didn't recognize. Then like a stroke of lightning he realized who they were.

"Mum…dad?" He gasped. "What the hell?"

oooooooooo

Author Notes: As the flash back shows, Harry has some problems to overcome even though Ranma took him from the Dursleys. Harry likes to keep things to himself and doesn't really trust anyone to much yet, but he's learning about life. They were training in the forests outside Tokyo, near the spot where Cologne trained Ryoga in the Breaking Point attack. Ranma is evaluating Harry.

Also remember that Ukyo is now Ukyo Saotome, she was adopted into Ranma's family by Nodoka to save her honor. She's not a favorite character of mine, but I thought I'd use her for once just for a change of pace. Ukyo's flour bombs are quite deadly since she can set them off quite easily. I figure she might be able to pull off a burst of Ki by now.

Martial Arts Hide and Seek is pretty self explanatory.

Omake:

George's eyes gleamed as he stood in front of the potion and added in a chunk of chocolate. On the other side of the potion, Fred added in a few drops of a purple liquid. The potion started to bubble and they giggled.

"How long?"

"About a minute."

"We better get out of here then."

They raced out of the room and glanced down the hallway. Filch was at the end of the corridor and spotted them. He started stalking towards them instantly. Mrs. Filch ran ahead of him.

"You! What are you doing!" Filch yelled.

Fred and George didn't say anything as they ran down to the end of the hall and around the corner.

"I'll catch you! Detention!"

Filch stopped for a second and glanced into the room. He quickly spotted the potion and stalked over to it. "These brats are going to pay!"

Gloop!

The Hogwarts Caretaker was experienced enough with the Weasley twins that he knew something bad was going to happen. His cat Mrs. Norris refused to go near them because of the dog incident. So he was only a little surprised as the potion exploded out of the bottle like a fountain.

Filch yelled out as the liquid quickly started to cover the floor and fill the room. He tried to make his way towards the door, but within seconds it was up to his waist.

"Blasted kids!"

With a groan, the door opened up under the pressure of the brown liquid and spilled out into the hallway. Filch's cussing filled the air as he fond himself body surfing the liquid as it raced down the corridor.

--

Fred and George watched as about a hundred thousand gallons of liquid chocolate spilled out the front doors of the castle. They spotted several first year students, a couple suits of armor, a screaming portrait, and Filch turning the air blue with his cussing.

"Wicked!"

"We Rule!"


	15. Chapter 15

Note: Been a little longer than normal for this chapter. I've been taking a look at a couple of my other stories and doing a bit of modification on the The Stone here. The next few chapters will most likely take about the same amount of time and I still haven't even started the rough drafts of the final scenesbelow the trap door yet. Ah well, were close to being finished with this story, but 7-8 chapters to go I think and the final chaper will be pure original material.

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 15  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

Harry's knees buckled as he saw his parents for the first time in over ten years. He sniffled as he reached out to touch the mirror knowing on some level that these were indeed his parents. He knew next to nothing about them, but even then he could recognize them instantly.

Several visions filled his head as he suddenly remembered things from when he was less than year old. He could recall what his mother smelled like and the sound of her voice. How the light moved through her red hair as she picked him up. Harry could tell why people thought he looked like his father. They were nearly identical except for their eyes.

His mother beside his father and they smiled at each other lovingly. She had long, dark red hair, and bright green eyes that shone with love and happiness. Green eyes, just like his, but without the emotions. His father was on the other side, tall and thin, he had messy black hair, and wore glasses as well.

Tears started to pour out of Harry's eyes as he watched them wave and reach out to him. Then he spotted more people further in the background as the image wavered a little, showing him several more people with bright green eyes or messy black hair, all of them waving.

Family.

His family was all around him. Suddenly visions of the Dursleys started to flash through his mind, assaulting him. His aunt kicking him when he was little and telling him not to ask questions. The consequences of doing just that. His uncle beating him with whatever was handy, drawing blood. Then Ranma breaking into the house and saving his life and sanity.

With a cry he wrenched himself away from the mirror and ran from the room. His heart pounding in his ears and tears streaming down his face as he ran. He couldn't face his parents, not after the Dursleys nearly ruined his life. Thinking that his mother and his aunt were related made him sick. Just seeing his mom and dad hurt him for some reason, as if he could never compare to them.

An arm shot out of nowhere and dragged him into an unused room. Harry nearly cried out in fright, but the arm wrapped around him and covered his mouth. "Hold still kid."

It was Ranma, in his female form. Harry relaxed as Ranma moved her hand.

"Ranma?" He gasped.

"You were just making enough noise to wake up the whole castle and that jerk of a teacher is running around the area." Ranma said.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was wandering around." Ranma said, running a hand through her bright red hair. "That blasted Peeves dropped a bucket of water on me a little while ago. Been chasing him ever since."

Harry snickered a little, but still looked upset. "I just saw my parents."

"Aren't they…gone?"

Harry nodded.

"Then how?"

"A magic mirror."

Ranma frowned. "Magic Mirrors can be dangerous. It showed you your parents? Are you sure?"

Harry just nodded as tears started to dribble out of his eyes again. He sniffled. "I couldn't face them."

"It's alright kid. You'll know when you're ready to face them for real. You've survived some pretty bad times after all."

"I don't want to go back to that room. Not yet."

"Was this mirror anything like the Naban Mirror I told you about?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I just stepped in front of it and there they were. W-waving at me, I saw other members of my family too."

"Not those abusive…"

"Not in the mirror, but I couldn't help remembering a few of the things they did to me." Harry growled, clenching his fists.

"I remember a few years ago when we visited Japan for the first stage of your training."

Harry winced.

"You had a pretty extreme reaction to Ukyo's flower bombs."

Now Harry was blushing a little. That episode had always embarrassed him.

"Well let's forget about the mirror for now. We need to wait for the search to finish up before we head back. I heard that someone tried to get a book out of the restricted section of the library." Ranma explained as she grabbed a nearby chair, spun it around, and sat on it backwards. She rested her arms on the back of the chair as she watched Harry.

"That was me." Harry mumbled, hanging his head.

Shrugging, Ranma looked around the room nervously. "There are several of those house elves around as well. I swear I can feel them watching me all the blasted time. It's been driving me nuts."

Harry didn't know what to say. Ranma had been complaining about the house elves acting oddly lately, but he couldn't recall them acing that oddly. They were just strange creatures. Then Harry realized something. "Hey! How the heck could you see me! I'm wearing an invisibility cloak!"

"What are you talking about? You're glowing a little, and that cloak is a bit gaudy and it makes you stand out like a fire in the middle of the night." Ranma said.

Looking down at himself, Harry could tell that the cloak was working perfectly. "I can't even see myself, yet you can?"

"What are you talking about?" Ranma snapped. "You're lit up like a Christmas bulb, light all over the place. I can see you easily. That's why I pulled you into this room."

Harry gaped at her. "But, but…"

Ranma looked confused. "I'm not supposed to be able to see you?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm wearing an invisibility cloak, you know, invisible?"

"Yeah right." Ranma said, patting him on the head. "The only place you wouldn't stand out is in the middle of the Disney Light Parade. Now let's head back to the trunk. I have a few ideas I want to try out and I need your help to pull them off."

"Like what?"

"I found this unused room with a number of old books available." Ranma explained, leaving out how she got the books. "They were about how to protect and strengthen ones mind."

Ranma described what he'd been doing for the last several days as the headed back to the tower. By the time Harry was over his reaction to the mirror and listening to every word Ranma said. If he could learn even a little bit of this Occlumancy, using his magic would be a lot easier.

oooooooooo

Harry was sitting down to breakfast the next morning thinking about what Ranma had shown him the night before. He'd learned meditation years before and it seemed that was the largest step to overcome when learning Occlumancy. Once that was done he had to tap into his magic core and simply let his magic fill him at all times.

This was simple enough to understand, but practicing it was a lot harder. Harry could keep it up for about twenty minutes before he had to take a break. Even then he was covered in sweat and could feel the magic moving around inside his body.

According to Ranma, once he mastered that, his magical power would radiate from his body. It worked as a kind of low level magical shield that could reduce the damage taken from dangerous spells. He had to have a clear mind for the shield to work, but once it was in place they could move onto the next level, which was organizing one's mind.

Ranma said the books mentioned something called a Pensive that could help them achieve this step in a third the time, but neither of them had a clue what it was. Even his parent's books didn't mention anything about a pensive. So Ranma was poking around the library looking for a book on the device.

Just as he was polishing off the last of his breakfast, a large brown owl flew into the Great Hall. This was odd since the morning mail had already arrived about half an earlier. Most of the teachers looked up as it swooped down and landed in front of Harry. It held its leg out, revealing a little pouch.

"Are you expecting something, Harry?" Dumbledore asked as he got up and walked over.

"No sir."

"This is one of the school's two long distance owls." The Old man explained. "I wasn't aware anyone was using him."

The owl glared at Albus and gave a little hoot. It ignored the Headmaster and turned back to Harry, holding out its leg again. Shrugging, Harry opened the little pouch and out popped a tiny little brown box. The owl launched off the table and left the Great Hall.

Dumbledore tapped the package with his wand and it suddenly unshrunk itself, knocking a couple of plates off the table. "Well my boy, it seems to be a delivery from Japan." He pointed at the Japanese characters on the side of the box.

Smiling, Harry got up and examined the top of the package. "It's from Aunty Nodoka!"

"Who?"

"Ranma's mother! I wasn't able to go and visit her and the family this year. I didn't think I would hear from her till I went home for the summer."

Dumbledore frowned a little as he processed the information, and then focused back on Harry again. "It might be dangerous…"

"Naw, Aunty is a bit weird, but she's not dangerous." Harry explained.

That didn't alleviate any of Dumbledore's thoughts on the box. He watched as Harry pushed several of the plates to the side.

Harry ripped the paper off the box and pulled the lid open. He pulled out several boxes of pencils, paper, binders, and even a small file system. "I don't think she quite understands that this is a magic school."

Dumbledore laughed. "Well most of it is still usable. Just ask Minerva to cast some charms on them so that you can use them in class. Looks like she sent enough for the next couple of years."

"I will sir; I'll take these up to my room." Harry said as he closed up the box and lugged it back to his common room. Along with several doughnuts from a nearby plate. He was just glad that Dumbledore hadn't gotten a look at the other stuff in the box. He'd have to find out how Ranma's mother got the items shrunk, how she sent them, and how she knew where to send them.

A few minutes later he entered the Gryffindor common room and head up the stairs. Ron was sitting on the floor at the end of his bed as Harry entered. "Hi Ron!"

"arry." He said blurrily.

"Enjoy your sleep?"

"Yep. Whas tha?"

"My Aunt Nodoka sent me some things all the way from Japan."

That woke Ron up. "Really?"

"Yep."

"What did she send?"

Harry grinned. "School supplies."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Ah, muggle school supplies." Harry clarified.

Ron started laughing. "This I got to see. I've always wondered how muggles go to school."

"It's about the same as here Ron. They just can't use magic to take care of everything."

"Still."

Harry dragged his trunk off the headboard, where it was balanced against the wall, and moved it to the edge of his bed. He opened up one of the smaller sections and started putting all the supplies away. Ron seemed to be fascinated by the colored pencils for some reason. "Why do they need so many pencils for the colors?"

"Cause they can't magically change color Ron." Harry explained.

"Weird."

"I'll say." Harry muttered. He just couldn't figure out why so many wizard borne children were so ignorant about muggles.

Then Harry noticed that there were more items at the bottom of the box, items that weren't noticeable until the other items were removed. He pulled out several Christmas presents and sat them on the bed. Then two scroll cases for Ranma."

Ron instantly noticed those. "I thought muggles didn't bother with scrolls and parchment?"

"These are from my guardian." Harry said, lying a little.

"That Ranma guy?"

"Yep. They're probably martial arts techniques for me to look over." Harry said with a shrug an put them away in the trunk with the other items. Then he turned to the Christmas presents. "Well let's see what everyone sent me."

There were nine presents in all, from Nodoka, Ukyo, Akane, Kasumi, Nabiki, Shampoo, Cologne, Ryoga, and Akari. Ron got a weird look on his face when Harry explained that all but one of the presents was from girls. Of course getting socks from Kasumi and Akari was a bit odd. Nabiki sent him a savings account book. She'd opened a small savings account for him a few months ago so that he could get started early. It seemed to be making quite a bit of interest too.

Ukyo sent him some frozen Okonomiyaki, preserved with a spell of some kind that he didn't know. Shampoo and Cologne had sent him a bottle of herbal pills that would supposedly increase his stamina. Harry wasn't sure what to think of that one. Those two had sex and babies on the brain and weren't afraid to let everyone know it.

Akane sent him a silk fighting uniform. As usual she seemed to have tried to 'enhance' it by sewing a picture into the back. Of what looked like a dead cat, or a walrus. Harry wasn't sure, but it sent Ron to the floor laughing. The next box was from Ryoga and turned out to be a tiger striped bandana, from Chicago.

The final package was from Nodoka, surprisingly the smallest one of the bunch. He eyed it warily.

"Problem?"

"Well Aunty Nodoka can be a bit odd at times."

"So what, just open it." Ron insisted.

Shrugging, Harry grabbed the small package and pulled the wrapper off. Then he paled, dropped it, and jumped about ten feet away, ducking down behind Ron's bed. Ron, clueless as ever, just looked down at the box.

"What are latex Condoms?"

"YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW!" Harry's voice cracked.

oooooooooo

-Five Years Ago-

"So you have these weird things happen to you from time to time?" Ranma asked.

Harry sniffled and nodded. "Uncle Vernon would beat me with a bat or his kick me over and over when it happened."

Ranma's blue eyes turned ice cold as he thought of Harry being beaten for something he couldn't control. "I see. Did he ever do anything else?"

"Just constant beatings, called me names, and told me a few times that I would be better off dead."

Ukyo gasped. "I'm going to kill that man."

"Dursley has been punished." Ranma said with a little smirk. "He's only just started to figure out what I did to him when I took Harry."

"What did you do?"

"Cologne taught me all those pressure points a while back. I just put them all to use."

"I heard from Tofu that he was flown all the way to England recently. To take care of a special case. He charged the people a fortune to even look at the case."

Ranma nodded. "I called the Doc and explained what I did to them. He was mad at first, but when I explained about the child abuse he told me I might have gone too light on them."

"What did you do?" Harry asked.

"Well, most of what I did was to keep them from harming you again. After that I hit several other points on each of them. I'm afraid your uncle can't eat meat anymore. Whenever he tries he gets sick and has the runs. I also made it impossible for him to create anymore children for at least five years."

"You sterilized him!" Ukyo laughed so hard she fell over.

Harry looked shocked.

"As for you Aunt, she wasn't helping you or participating as far as I could see. Therefore, I went a little lighter on her. She won't be able to lie in any way for five years. She will also be forced clean herself compulsively. It's an irritating little pressure point, but one that teaches the best lessons. According to Cologne anyway."

"You didn't hurt them to bad did you?" Harry asked. "I hate them, but I don't want them dead."

"I don't kill unless it's as a last resort." Ranma said.

"Good." Harry said. "They deserve to be punished."

"Just wait till Tofu gets back. He said he was going to add to what I did."

They all grinned. Ranma was good at Pressure Points, but Doctor Tofu was a thousand times better. The Dursley's were in for a world of pain after he got through with them.

"Now, back to what we were talking about earlier." Ranma said, glancing at the kid. "Have you ever been able to do what you did on purpose?"

The boy shook his head.

"I think you might want to try and figure out how it works, because that shield you created was damned cool." Ranma said, patting Harry on the head.

Harry could only gape at Ranma. He had never expected acceptance after Ranma found out about his odd abilities.

oooooooooo

Later that night, Harry dragged Ron out of the tower and they went down to visit the mirror. This time it both frightened and excited Harry to see his parents in the mirror. Ranma wasn't sure what to think of it and said he'd visit the mirror some other time as he took the scrolls his mother sent.

They were still going through the Occlumancy, but it would be a couple of weeks before either of them were ready. So Ranma decided to spend some time going over the scrolls. Every now and then she would find a technique that Ranma didn't know and send it to him.

Even Genma wasn't that lucky. He spent so much time at the Tendo house that Nodoka was lucky to see more than once or twice a year. It saddened her, but she had learned to live on her own. Of course it might have something to do with the threat of death that hung over his head if he tried to touch Nodoka's money. Harry didn't even worry about it.

Getting back to the room was a lot easier than Harry thought it would be. He just followed his tracks in the dust, something he hadn't noticed when he visited the first time. Ron was still amazed by the cloak and kept quiet as they entered the room.

At least this time they didn't have to worry about Filch or Snape stumbling on them. They just shut the door. Harry firmed his jaw, walked over to the mirror, and got to see his parents again. The sight just amazed him and he stood there watching them for several minutes.

"What are you seeing?" Ron asked.

"Can't you see my parents?"

"No, it's not even showing a reflection." Ron grumbled.

Harry grabbed him and planted him right in front of the mirror. "Then look in it properly. You see your family around you?"

At first Ron didn't say anything, and then he grinned. "Nope, but I'd say I'm Headboy, Quidditch Captain, and even receiving an award from Dumbledore."

Harry gaped at him. "Huh?"

"Maybe the mirror shows the future?"

A suddenly noise brought them up short and they threw the cloak over themselves and ran for it. Out in the hall they saw the tail end of Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat as it rounded the corner. Its gray matted fur standing out at all angles. Fearing that she was going after Filch, they headed back to the tower.

"Did you see the lettering around the top of the mirror?" Ron asked quietly.

Harry shook his head.

"I wonder if it has anything to do with the mirror."

"Hard to say."

Ron shrugged. "I've heard of magic mirrors like that. They can be dangerous if you aren't careful."

"How so?"

"Mom didn't go into detail, she just told us to keep an open mind and stay away from if we could. She said they warp a person's perceptions."

oooooooooo

-Five Years Ago-

During the last six months Ranma had happily trained Harry in the basics of Anything Goes. They hadn't left the house other than to train, and the kid was picking things up very quickly. Ranma wasn't sure, but he thought Harry might be a natural athlete and it gave the boy an edge.

Harry still cringed a little whenever something odd happened, but the boy was no longer traumatized by the events at Privet Drive. After only six months of training, Harry could shatter rocks with his fist, kick through five inch boards, and jump six feet into the air. Because of the odd things that happened around Harry, Ranma had started teaching him how to tap into his Ki far earlier than he should have.

Even that took several weeks for Harry to pick up. Once he got it he could move faster, kick harder, and pull off techniques that he hadn't been able to do before. Ranma was quite proud of his first student and would show showed him new moves daily.

The green eyed boy remembered everything Ranma showed him. Teaching him special memorization had taken half an hour, a process that usually took a couple of years to just get proficient. Ranma even thought that Harry might be learning a little too fast. He just couldn't think of any reason why that would be a bad idea.

His mother on the other hand, dotted on Harry constantly and the boy didn't know what to do about it. The Dursleys ignored him and punished him for the littlest thing. Nodoka on the other hand hugged him constantly, ruffled his hair, and tried taught him how to speak Japanese.

Ranma just ignored Harry's pleading looks and let his mother take care of the kid. She even fed him four or five times a day. So, Harry wasn't skin and bones anymore, but a normal looking six year old. Ranma's thoughts were interrupted as he felt an odd presence appear in the front yard.

He got up, pulled on his pants, and moved through the house as silently as a ghost. He spotted Konatsu as he entered the front room. The cross dressing ninja made a hand sign and Ranma nodded. Ninja hand talk was one of the many skills that Ranma had learned over the years, along with a few his old man had created.

They had a pair of intruders. Ranma stepped into a shadow to hide as they saw a pair of men in black robes pass by the windows. One of them was holding up a thin flashlight of some kind, to light their way. Ranma frowned as he sensed their Ki. It was completely black and warped beyond help.

"Filth." Konatsu growled, barely loud enough for Ranma to hear him.

"No playing." Ranma ordered.

Konatsu nodded as he slipped into the shadows and vanished.

Moving silently, they headed for the second floor of the house and looked out the open window. Ranma could make out the two intruders below. He could also hear them. He leaned out the window to listen as they talked.

"The boy is in the house somewhere." An oily voice growled.

"These readings are odd though." The other one said.

"Let's just kill everyone and take the boy. They're only muggles, flesh bags with no purpose."

"Ignore the muggles; killing them will only bring attention to us. Let's just get the boy."

The other man snarled just as two shadows fell upon them like the wrath of god. The beating lasted fifteen minutes and by the time they were done, the two men didn't have a healthy bone in their bodies. Everything was broken, crushed, or bruised.

"What should we do with them?" Konatsu asked quietly.

"They're still alive, but after what I heard I think Harry's uncle hired some assassins to get a bit of revenge."

"I'll talk to my sisters." Konatsu said. "They still have some contacts within the underworld."

"You don't need to do that. Let's just dump the bodies on the other side of the gate and forget about them."

"Strip them. They don't deserve any dignity if they want to kill a child."

Ranma smirked. "Good idea."

It was five hours before the two men were found, and three more hours before anyone bothered to call the police. By that time the two mean were nearly dead, but they started to recover once they reached the hospital. Ten hours after that the Japanese Ministry of Magic stepped in and took over. All records of the two men vanished.

It would be two years before the men were seen again and that was when they appeared in at St. Mungo's Hospital in England.

oooooooooo

The next night Ron tried to keep Harry from going to the mirror again. Harry just wanted to see his parents again and refused to listen. "Don't go mate, there's something wrong with that mirror."

"But, I want to see my family again."

"Mate, that thing is bad news."

Harry ignored him as he slipped out of the common room, invisible to everyone that may have seen him. At the same time Ron's words echoed through Harry's mind as he moved through the castle. Even though the mirror scared him, he couldn't give up seeing his parents. They had filled his dreams for the last ten years, strengthening him, pushing him on.

Just seeing them scared him more than he wanted to admit, but it also filled him with a longing that filled his soul. He could have made his way to the mirror room with a blind fold on now. As soon as he entered he sat down in front of the mirror and watched his parents waving at him. Watched as his family in the background waved as well.

Then he felt something, something dangerous, and it was behind him. He spun around, moving into a defensive stance, still kneeling on the floor. Professor Dumbledore was standing there, a sad expression on his face. "Back again, Harry?"

"I…didn't see you, sir."

"Being invisible can make one quite short sighted." Dumbledore said. "I see you've discovered the Mirror of Erised. You aren't the first, and won't be the last to fall prey to its magic."

"Erised? I didn't realize it even had a name."

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose a little. "You do realize what it does, don't you?"

"Well, it shows me my family." Harry whispered.

"Your friend Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch Captain."

Harry didn't get it.

"You see, The Mirror of Erised shows your greatest desire."

Harry sighed. "Erised, Desire spelled backwards."

"Correct Harry. Many a life has been wasted sitting in front of this mirror. They just sit there, watching it as they wither away, and die."

Harry hung his head and suddenly felt rather foolish. Even after everyone warned him about the mirror he had fallen into its trap without a second thought. "I'm sorry…"

"It has a powerful pull." Dumbledore explained. "I'll be moving the mirror Harry; you aren't the only one that has found the mirror. Please do not look for the mirror Harry, you will not find it. Its pull will wear off here in a couple of weeks Harry and if you ever do come across the mirror again, you will be prepared for its tricks."

Harry nodded. "Do you see anything in the mirror?"

"A pile of woolen socks." Dumbledore said, grinning.

"Ah."

"Now you take that wonderful cloak and head back to your common room. I won't take any points, for now. I want you to think about why this mirror had such a strong grasp on you."

"Yes sir." Not wanting to tempt fate, Harry quickly made his way out of the room and vanished.

Dumbledore walked over to the mirror and slowly replaced the sheet over the mirror, securing it with a couple of spells. "You can come out now, Mr. Saotome."

Ranma appeared, sitting on the edge of a desk near the back of the room. He was wearing his trademark clothing, red shirt, black pants, and cloth bracers on his arms. He smirked at the old man.

"Dumbledore."

"I'm surprised to see you here."

"Harry needs to be protected and his training can't be interrupted just because he's at school"

"And how have you managed to stay hidden?"

"It's easy enough to hide in this place." Ranma said, shrugging.

"Not as easy as you think."

Ranma grinned. "I'm the best there is."

Dumbledore laughed. "So I've heard. I take it you are also the one that has been entertaining Severus for the last few months?"

"Severus?"

"Professor Snape."

"Ah, the potions teacher. Tell him if he wants to torment children he's going to pay the price. Especially if he takes his misplaced hatred out on Harry."

"I see, and how about what happened at the Quidditch match?"

Ranma smirked. "Got no clue what you're talking about."

"Ah, then care to explain how a muggle, with no magic, managed to erase the memories of over two hundred people?"

Ranma stood up. "One thing I've learned in the last two months is that you Wizards are very ignorant. Most of you may have hidden yourselves from the world, but there are people out there that did not. I've encountered quite a few people and objects that can only be explained by magic."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I know, but it's all you'll get. I made a promise not to reveal certain things about my training when I was taught. If you want answers, you'll need to visit the Chinese Amazons and they don't like men much."

"So you used your curse to your advantage?"

Ranma didn't even look surprised that the old man would know about his curse. "I did."

"Interesting."

"Harry needs to be distracted again. Perhaps you and I will talk again." Ranma said as he vanished from sight.

"We will." Dumbledore said.

oooooooooo

A few minutes later Ranma found Harry leaning up against a wall, looking a bit panicky. He made his way over and leaned up against the wall next to him and became visible. "Problem?"

"No." Harry muttered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Harry stammered out.

Ranma folded his arms and nodded. "Good, I won't do anything about you going back to that mirror."

Harry nearly fell over. 'How did Ranma know that?'

"You aren't allowed to use that cloak of yours for the rest of the holidays, clear?"

He nodded.

"If you go out, you will do it using the skills I've taught you. That cloak is making you blind to the world around you."

Harry sighed, and then heard a loud splash. He looked up to see a soaking wet female Ranma chasing Peeves down the corridor.

"Peeves! Come back here and take your punishment!" Ranma yelled.

Peeves just laughed and raced down the hallway and vanished through a solid wall.

oooooooooo

Harry was glad that Ranma left him alone for the rest of the day. It wasn't until the next day that Harry realized that Ranma hadn't been around for their morning practice. So he was forced to spend a couple hours practicing alone for the first time since he came to Hogwarts.

This gave Harry the free time he needed to continue his search for Nicolas Flamel, but he never did find anything. He even checked through some of the books in his trunk library, but the guy didn't seem to exist. The Day before school started again Hermione returned to the school. By that time Harry hadn't seen Ranma in almost four days. Of course Hermione distracted him the instant she spotted him in the Great Hall.

She ran over and hugged him. "Harry!"

"H-hi Hermione."

"So, did you find anything? I asked my parents, but they didn't have a clue." She asked.

He shook his head. "Nope, been looking for the last few days too."

She looked disappointed. "We need to try harder."

"I suppose." Harry muttered, and then Wood came out of nowhere.

"Potter, we need to start practicing for the next match in a couple of weeks."

"Ah, sure?"

Wood nodded. "We need to win the next game. It'll give us a chance to beat the Slytherin's for the first time in the last seven years. We will win the Cup this year!"

"Right!" Harry said.

Wood patted him on the shoulder and went to chase down the Weasley twins, who looked like they wanted to run away the instant they spotted Wood heading their way. Harry turned back to Hermione and shrugged. "Wood loves the game."

"I can tell, some of the girls in Ravenclaw are like that."

Harry nodded.

oooooooooo

Author Notes: There we go, not quite as much of a cliff hanger as ch 14. I'm still a bit bummed about ch 14 flopping like it did, but I figure that the Mirror of Erised scene is a bit over done isn't it?

I will also have all the flash back scenes done by the time I reach ch 19 or 20. That will leave me with two chapters to detail the areas below the trap door. I'm not sure if I'll use what's there, the over used stuff, or just make up some of my own. If I make up my own the release of the last couple of chapters will be delayed by a few weeks as I plan the scenes.

So much to decide.

Omake:

Harry stepped out of the potions classroom, only eighty five points down from when he entered. The lowest point loss yet, although Professor Snape had been distracted by something. Ron came up behind him and was about to say something when they heard a strange commotion down the corridor. Several other students heard it as well and turned to look just as a small brown ball skidded around the corrner, slipped, and careened into the wall.

It squeaked in fear, looked around, and started racing towards the students.

Ron frowned. "Is that Scabbers?"

Harry shrugged. "I think so, what's he doing down here?"

"I don't..."

Suddenly about fifty cats came around the corner in a wave of fur and claws, all of them meowing, hissing, or jumping along madly. The rat squeaked in terror as the wave of cats started to catch up with him, his little claws scrambling on the stone floor.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

"Scabbers!" Ron yelled as it ran by.

"Sq-sq-squeaka!"

Everyone dived out of the way of the swarm of cats as they raced by and vanished down the hall. Ron and Harry sat up and looked around just as Snape stepped out of the classroom and glared at them. Ron gulped.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor for disrupting class, causing a scene, and BLOCKING THE DOOR TO THE MY CLASSROOM!" Snape yelled, sneered at them, and moved back into the classroom.

Ron looked angry, then confused, then panicked as he ran down the hall after the cats. "Scabbers! I'll save you!"


	16. Chapter 16

Note: I've been putting in a lot of work on this chapter over the last couple of months and have written a pretty good story so far. This chapter doesn't have any flashbacks in it. I figured those have gotten a bit old after that last several chapters. There are only two flash backs left anyway and I'll include the in the next or the one after that. 

I won't be able to update this story for two or three weeks after this chapter. It'll give people time to get caught up on the story and me time to complete the last few chapters that need to be written up. Also my prereader is ready to rebel against me because he dislikes the story. :P

So I'm going to try and finish a couple of other things that have been in the works for a little while.

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 16  
By Cory D. Rose  
© 2005  
oooooooooo

"I think we need to give up on finding the name in the library." Hermione said as she slammed yet another book closed. She looked rather disgusted that she would even think of giving up.

"I'm sure I've heard the name somewhere before." Harry insisted. "I just can't recall where."

"Are you sure it wasn't back home somewhere?"

Harry shrugged. "I just don't remember."

They sighed.

Now that it was early January most of the snow had melted just as school was starting up again. Only to be replaced by a nearly constant rain storm that seemed to be dumping half an ocean on them. Instead of shoveling snow and defrosting brooms, Hagrid was doing everything he could to keep the lower levels of the school from flooding.

Hermione explained that it had to do with low pressure waves and moisture from the melting snow, but for once Harry didn't listen. He didn't really care about where the rain was coming from. He just wanted it to stop.

Wood was also driving the team crazy with practice sessions that took place in the rain, sometimes in the morning, or in the afternoon, even at night if he could get away with it. All of it in the never ending rain. Harry tolerated it because he needed the practice more than anyone else on the team. The twins just complained about water logged brooms and only had one good thing to say about the rain.

"Alica, dear, all this rain is making you look absolutely…"

"FABULOUS!" The twins chorused, nearly falling off their brooms.

Being a girl, a soaking wet girl in robes, Alica spent the next ten minutes chasing them around the pitch throwing curses at them. The twins just laughed and tried to stay one step ahead of her. It took Wood another twenty minutes to get the rest of the team under control again.

"Well the lot of you stop messing around!" Wood yelled. "Snape is refereeing the next match and he won't hesitate to throw Gryffindor's off the field if he gets a chance!"

"What!" George yelled and this time he did fall off his broom in shock.

"That git will do everything in his power to make sure we lose!" Fred yelled.

"It's not my choice!" Wood yelled at them. "Stop screwing around so we can survive the game! Why the hell do you think we've been practicing so much lately! We can't lose this game!"

That was enough to get the team to practice harder than ever. They finally took a break a few hours later. Wood was still obsessing over the upcoming game and was considering a few more hours of practice in the morning. The team sighed and let him rant as they headed back to the school to get some late night homework done.

Harry didn't say anything as he trudged into the common room and collapsed into a comfy chair next to the fire. He felt like he had just gone face to face against Ranma and lost. Ron was playing a game of chess with Seamus, one of the few people that could give Ron a challenge at the game.

Even then, Ron usually won. Harry had given up trying to win weeks ago and just tried to survive a little longer with each game. The moving pieces still razed him though.

"Hey Harry, hold on a sec, I've nearly got…" Ron muttered, watching the chess board. One of the pieces turned and glared at Harry. The piece gave every indication that it was a crusty old man as it squatted down. "Harry, you look like crap." Ron said without looking up from the board.

"Oh thanks a lot." Harry muttered.

"What's wrong?" Seamus asked.

"I just found out that Snape is refereeing the next Quidditch match."

Ron fell out of his chair. "What!"

Harry nodded. "I know what you mean."

"You're so dead!"

"Don't play. It's just a game." Seamus said, shrugging. This earned him a glare from Ron though.

"Say you're sick, got the gout, something. He did try to kill you." Ron snapped.

"What!" Seamus asked.

"I know, I know." Harry snapped back, ignoring Seamus. "I can't though, there isn't a reserve seeker, and I'm all the team has available."

"Why would a teacher try and kill you?" Seamus insisted.

Harry sighed. "Let Ron explain it."

Ron groaned and absently moved a piece.

Seamus moved his own piece and handed Harry a Chocolate Frog. "Here, eat this to calm yourself down. I want to hear this story and why Snape is still around."

"No actual proof." Harry muttered, suddenly wanting to punch Snape right in the nose.

"Hey!" Ron muttered, eyeing the candy. "I was saving that."

"Thanks for saving it for me." Harry said as he opened the package, ate the chocolate frog, and glanced at the card. It was another Dumbledore card. He read the back again, and started choking. Ron moved a piece and slapped Harry on the back a couple of times.

"Yo mate, you alright?"

Harry, still coughing, nodded quickly. He eyed the card and stuffed it inside his robe. Who would have thought that he'd find Nicolas Flamel on the back of a Chocolate Frog card? He stood up just as Ron turned back to the chess game and moved a pawn.

"Checkmate."

Seamus looked at the board again and sighed. "Damn."

"I'm the best." Ron said, grinning.

"Feh." Seamus muttered as he headed for his room. "I've got some homework to do, so later. Good game."

Ron loved to win.

His celebration was interrupted as the portrait hole opened and a body fell through with a grunt. It collapsed to the floor and lay there for several seconds before anyone realized that it was Neville Longbottom. His legs were as stiff as a board, making it next to impossible for him to get back to his feet.

"Neville." Harry said and ran over to him. "What happened?"

"Malfoy happened. Him and a leg locker curse." Neville gasped out. "Said he wanted to practice."

"You should tell Professor McGonagall." Harry said.

"No."

"Why? Malfoy needs to be punished for this."

"I don't want to be anymore trouble. I'm already useless." Neville muttered sadly.

"You should stand up to him." Ron yelled.

Neville shook his head.

Ron snorted, turned around, and stalked up the stairs without another word. This just made Neville look even worse. Pulling out his wand, Harry quickly undid the curse and freed Neville. "There you go."

"Thanks Harry."

"No problem."

oooooooooo

Grinning, Ranma slowly focused his mind, and felt his Ki building up inside his body. Deep inside he felt something else stirring in response. Ever since he started to learn Occlumancy, and started experimenting with the ambient magic within the room, he had felt his body energies changing.

With Occlumancy he could now channel his Ki through this new energy. This seemed to increase the nature of the energy in some mysterious way. He'd even talked to Harry about it, but the kid didn't have a clue what was happening. After all his reading he was pretty sure that it he was just a small step away from actually using magic.

As his Ki flowed into the other energy source they both slowly started to grow in power. Ranma released his Ki and focused on the small energy source and gave it a mental poke. It flared like a bit of electricity and he felt it deep in his chest.

Ranma relaxed and took a deep breath. He had a bit of sweat beading on his forehead. Wiping the sweat off, he pulled out one of the scrolls that his mother had sent him. Ranma wasn't sure what to make out of what she sent him. Happosai wasn't helping much either.

Everyone knew that his Quest would take time, but now the old man was starting to get antsy. Happosai wanted Ranma home within a year, or else. Ranma didn't like that one bit. For the first time in his life he was on his own and everything was perfect.

He didn't have to fight in retarded fights against equally lame morons. Then again, Happosai was old. Ranma was almost positive the old man would out last all of them. On the other hand, Ranma was sure that he was ready for Happosai's final test. After the last several years he had taken his training to all new levels.

Even Harry was about two levels higher than Ranma was at that age. The boy picked things up very quickly. It would be about five years before Harry could master everything, but that was fine. Happosai seemed to think otherwise though. The old man had sent him a new technique to master that could very well interrupt Harry's training.

It was a Grand Master Technique. The old perv always managed to surprise him when he pulled stuff like this out of nowhere. A full fledged master would have problems defending against the technique and even then come out injured. The level of Ki and power required were incredible.

Ranma figured it would be mastered by Tuesday.

oooooooooo

The next day Harry found Hermione in the library. He ran over to her and handed her the card. "Here."

"I'm not interested in cards Harry." She muttered.

"Read the stupid card Hermione." He snapped back, making her glare at him. She really didn't like to be disturbed when she was reading something good in a book, but Harry tended to ignore that about her.

"Fine." She muttered, glancing at the back of the card. "Flamel! Oh of course!"

"See?"

"You found the clue we needed!" She squealed. Getting up she ran over to a series of books and pulled down a huge book, easily two thousand pages long. She staggered back over to the desk, barely able to lift the thing. "It's a bit of light reading, but ever so interesting."

"Riiight." Harry drawled.

She flipped through the book for several seconds. "Here we go. We couldn't find any information because we were checking recent books. Everything we need on Flamel is in this Alchemy book."

"What does it say?" He asked.

"Well, Alchemy is an art that deals with the Philosopher's Stone, a substance that can turn any metal to gold and create the Elixir of Life which allows the drinker gain near immortality so long as they drink the elixir once a year." Hermione said. She was grinning, bouncing from foot to foot, and barely containing her excitement over the discovery. "Oh this is incredible."

"So that means that giant dog must be guarding the Stone?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes."

"Snape must really need that stone if he's willing to try and kill me in front of everyone like that." Harry mused. "There must be some way we can stop him. Maybe adding a few traps around the third corridor?"

"I think we can set something up." Hermione said with an excited grin. She started bouncing from foot to foot again as she thought of ideas.

"Did you know that Snape is refereeing the next Quid ditch game?"

"You have to be kidding?"

Harry shook his head. "No, and I can't just back out. Ranma wouldn't let me, and the Slytherins would think I was a coward if I did. I think we can win this game too, it'll wipe those smug grins off their faces and Snape can't deny our win if we do it fairly."

"Well that's fine, but just make sure you aren't the one being wiped off the ground of the pitch." She told him, and then adjusted her glasses and started bounding from foot to foot again and muttering under her breath. "Now about those traps. As first years we can't do much magically, but we might be able to pull something unexpected off. Have you been taught anything about traps?"

Harry just shook his head. The girl was completely barmy. "Yeah, how about a potion trap?"

Hermione considered it. "Maybe, but that maybe be a little to simplistic."

He shrugged. "A trap within a trap?"

The girl grinned and her glasses started to gleam in a rather frightening way. "Just what I was thinking."

"Riiight."

oooooooooo

Ranma glided through the long corridor, passing through the shadows between torches. He wasn't even bothering to hide his presence like he usually did. He could tell that there was only one person in the area. As he walked he continued to practice what he read in the Occlumancy books as well. He was at step two and would need a week or so before he could get to step three.

Waves of energy seemed to radiate off the walls now instead of just glowing like they had at first. Ranma had found that this meant he could see more than just magic according the book. It meant he had an aura reading ability, something even wizards found rare.

He approached a gargoyle and looked at the thing as it glared down at him like a bug. "Pink Taffy."

It nodded and jumped out of the way. Ranma stepped by, rode the moving stairway up to the door, and knocked. He heard the old man yell from inside and opened the door. Albus Dumbledore looked up as Ranma entered and stared around the room. "Hello Ranma."

Ranma just nodded to the old man as he took in the room. He spotted several paintings staring at him from the wall, an open window across the room, and if his new site wasn't lying to him, about ten hidden doors. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk which was in front of a large book case. There was an empty perch sitting in the corner as well.

"I got your message old man, what's up?"

"I just wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Ranma asked, something about the man set off his danger sense and that was never a good thing.

"Harry of course. He's been under quite a bit of pressure lately."

"I've been pushing his training lately. His temper has only gotten worse and worse ever since he was exposed to the psycho you have teaching potions."

"Severus?"

Ranma nodded. "The man torments and insults Harry worse than his Uncle ever did. The man is going to pay for his actions here pretty soon if he doesn't back off with the insults and out right attacks."

Albus sighed. "Severus is under a lot of pressure right now and he's never had a good opinion of any Potter. Harry's father used to play practical jokes on Severus when they went to school together."

"Harry isn't his father." Ranma snapped.

"I know, and deep down Severus knows as well, but he's dealing with nearly 30 years of hatred."

"I don't care." Ranma said. "I'm willing to let Harry deal with this on his own, but the kid already thinks that your teacher tried to kill him and got away with it without punishment. Harry doesn't forgive easily Headmaster."

"Severus did no such thing." Albus said.

"Funny how it looks when you're on a broom fifty feet in the air, under attack, and when you look down you only see one man staring up at you mumbling under his breath and casting a spell."

"I can't explain Severus's actions Ranma, but I can say that I trust his motives. He was trying to save Harry."

Ranma didn't say anything for several seconds. He agreed with the old man because he tried to keep an eye on the man whenever possible. "Did you know that Harry is on the verge of quitting your school, Headmaster?"

"He what?"

"You claim this school is safe, but Harry seems to be treated differently here. The teachers expect him to perform at the top of their classes and are disappointed when he doesn't. One of your teachers has a death wish and may just piss off Harry and end up in your hospital wing. Then everyone stares at him and talks about him behind his back." Ranma explained. "He's mentioned more than once that he just might not return next year."

Albus looked shocked. "He has to return."

"It's his choice Headmaster. Maybe if he was treated differently he might, but right now, it's been made quite clear that he isn't wanted here. He constantly has to fight to keep from thrashing those three brats from Slytherin and the potions master hates his guts for no reason at all."

"We are the best magic school in the world, he can learn things here that just aren't taught anywhere else." Albus said.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Harry is learning magic here, he's also learning how to hate, how to desire revenge, and he's learning that crimes in this school go unpunished if you are a Slytherin. I don't like what he's learning Headmaster." Ranma growled.

"You will not remove him from this school."

"That is entirely up to Harry." Ranma said. "I don't like the way he's changing as the months pass. He has two friends headmaster, two, that's it. Everyone else just looks at him as the second coming of god and treat him just like it."

Suddenly a ball of flame appeared over in the corner and Fawks appeared on his perch. Ranma's hands were up in an instant, a large ball of blue energy flaring into existence. The bird gave a confused trill and casually flew over to Dumbledore's shoulder.

"This is just Fawks, my phoenix." Dumbledore explained. "He just returned form delivering a package for me."

Ranma powered down and relaxed a little. "I've never had a good experience with anything that involved a phoenix. Keep that thing away from me." Ranma grumbled.

"Phoenix are pure light creatures, they could never harm you so long as you don't attack one."

"Whatever." Ranma said, ignoring Fawks as he sang a little.

"I will do what I can to get Severus to treat Harry a little better, but he needs this education. His parents went to Hogwarts after all."

He wasn't the naïve person he used to be, so Ranma didn't take what he said at face value. "It's funny you should say that now."

"Oh?"

"Other than that little conversation you had with Harry abut the mirror, you haven't said ten words to him all year." Ranma pointed out. "Now all of a sudden you're bringing his parents up? Funny time to do it."

"I'm just…trying to find some kind of common ground that we can agree on." Albus explained. He reached for a container on his desk. "Would you like a lemon drop?"

"I don't eat sugar." Ranma snapped.

"Ah."

"Anyway, they are giving off a rather distinctive glow. So I wouldn't trust them to be what you say they are." Ranma said with a smirk. "We'll see what Harry decides Headmaster. So far things are looking bad and could very well get worse."

"They don't need to be."

"Maybe you should tell that to your potions teacher. He seems to need a good spanking. Maybe I'll give him one." Ranma said as he vanished from sight.

Dumbledore frowned as Ranma left and thumped his desk. He'd been watching Harry quite closely in class and out of it. Even had the pictures keeping an eye out for him when he couldn't do it himself. He didn't like the amount of control Ranma had over the boy.

Maybe it was time to sever that control, he thought. Then tossed half a dozen lemon drops in his mouth and started to think. He ignored the odd look Fawks was giving him. Like the fact that Ranma was sitting on the edge of the desk, completely invisible, watching his every move.

Ranma noted that the phoenix was looking right at him and gave him a look that said 'I don't like you'.

oooooooooo

Over the next few days things around the school got even weirder. Everyone seemed to know that Snape was going to ref the next game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Harry didn't want to admit it, but he was growing more and more worried.

He seemed to run into or see Snape every few hours. It was almost like the git was following him. Harry did everything he could not to break any rules or even look like he was, because he just knew that if he stepped out of line Snape was going to keep him from playing.

Even the team noticed and went out of their way to help Harry. Warning him when Snape was heading their way and making sure the biased teacher didn't get a chance to make them lose before the game even started. Harry had to hide in empty classrooms and closets more than once.

Things were even worse in potions class. Harry couldn't hide from Snape during those and the man was actually worse than normal as the game drew nearer and nearer. It was a kind of weekly torture that he had to endure. Harry even had a feeling that Snape might be able to read minds because every time they looked at each other Snape would sneer at him and take ten points from Gryffindor.

Harry's control over his temper had grown in the last few weeks with Ranma's help, but that control was wearing thin with each passing day. The other teachers seemed to ignore what Snape put him through and wouldn't even try and stop it.

Ranma knew and told Harry this was a good learning experience. At the same time their training was kicked up a notch as Harry finally got used to his weighted clothing.

oooooooooo

Harry collapsed to the ground gasping for air. He was on his hands and knees, sweat dripping off his body steadily. He wasn't wearing a shirt or his glasses either. Just a pair of baggy black pants and socks. Ranma stood off to the side, not even winded as he waited for Harry to recover enough to stand.

He was timing Harry's recovery time. Twice a week he would subject Harry to a sparing session much tougher than their normal ones where they worked on Harry's stamina. These sessions were built to make Harry even stronger than normal. Ranma gave him fifteen seconds to get up. "Get up kid."

Breathing a little easier, Harry quickly came to his feet and got into position for another attack. "Bring it on."

Ranma laughed. "Doing good kid. You have a game in the morning, so I think I'll let you get cleaned up."

"I can go some more." Harry snapped.  
"Of course you can, but will you be able to say the same thing tomorrow?"

Sighing, Harry relaxed and headed for the showers. Ranma watched him go and had to resist an urge to attack him from behind, just like his old man would have done. Instead, Ranma started going through a new technique he was developing. He was sure that since he could see magic, then he could use his Ki to affect Magic.

That meant he would have to start going through Harry's library of books. The kid hadn't really touched them since they set up the library either. Ranma really didn't want to go through them either, but he figured it would be to his advantage. 'Knowledge is power.'

"Now for some food." Ranma muttered.

oooooooooo

Dressed in his red quidditch robes, Harry stood outside the Gryffindor locker room waiting for the girls to finish up. He was just far enough away to see that most of the school was there to watch the game. That almost never happened according to Wood, who looked a little nervous himself. If he hadn't been so jumpy, Harry would have found it quite funny.

Snape's bias was the school joke and they wanted to see him pull his act during the game with everyone watching. This really applied to any game that Harry would be involved in. Everyone knew that Snape would fail Harry's potions if they weren't dead on perfect. If they were he would 'accidentally' drop them on the floor and fail him for not performing an unbreakable charm on the vial.

A charm that was taught in second year. Snape just said that a celebrity was expected to know the charm. Now that Snape was refereeing the game, people wanted to see what he would do during the game. Harry just sighed and felt like he was walking to his doom.

"This sucks."

"You'll be fine. Just follow our plan." Hermione said. "Remember, Locomotor Mortis, the leg locker curse. Use it on Snape is anything goes wrong. Especially if he tries to kill you again."

Harry nodded.

"Harry, mate, better you than me." Ron said, slapping him on the back.

"Yeah right." Harry muttered, shouldering his broom as the girls came out of the locker room. The rest of the team quickly made their way over to where Wood looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown. The twins were also looking a little pale, for once not making any jokes. They looked like Harry felt.

At least he wasn't alone. Wood grabbed him around the shoulders and pulled him close. "Listen Harry, if there was ever a need to catch the snitch quickly this is it. The faster you catch it the better our chance of winning and making sure that Snape doesn't get the chance to pull anything."

Harry gulped and nodded. The same thought had occurred to him a few days ago, but he hadn't wanted to suggest it to anyone. "A-alright, I'll try."

Wood nodded. "Good."

"Whoa!" The twins said, and then started grinning like it was Christmas again. "Over there!"

Harry turned and spotted Dumbledore sitting in the stands. Just a few yards away Snape looked like he wanted to kill someone. With the old man watching, there was no chance that Snape would try and pull something. With that thought, Harry felt a giant weight lift off his shoulders and he calmed down.

"Harry, we still need to win quick." Wood said, understanding that Snape could still use the rules against them.

"I know, but now he can't cheat as much as he usually does."

Everyone nodded.

They headed out to the pitch and got into position, ready to lift off in an instant. Harry saw Malfoy and his shadows heading into the stands. He wasn't worried about the Slytherin, but he wanted to know why the boy was heading into the Gryffindor section of the stands.

"Take your positions!" Snape snarled as he stalked over to them and glared.

The Gryffindor team lifted off the ground before he could say anything else.  
From there the game quickly got underway. Hufflepuff took their positions as well and Snape released the Quidditch balls into the pitch. Down below Hermione was watching the game closely, even noting when Snape awarded Hufflepuff a penalty shot for no reason.

"Look, Potter can't even figure out what side of the pitch to stay on, he's flying in circles!" Malfoy yelled, poking Ron in the back of the head with his wand.

"Malfoy!" Ron growled.

"Oh, I'm shaking. You couldn't buy a clue Weasley, they're to expensive and everyone knows you can't even afford that."

Hermione glared at him.

"Look, the geek is mad at little ol'me." Malfoy mocked. "Gonna stick your nose in the air and pretend to be a real witch?"

He started laughing as Hermione turned around a little more and brought her fist up.

"Gonna hit me now? You'll get detention for that." Malfoy's shadows laughed.

Then Hermione's fist blurred. The sound of breaking wood was drowned out as the crowd roared, so no one saw Malfoy scrambling backwards away from Hermione. She may not have been at Harry's level, but she could still break things. This time, her fist had came down right between Malfoy's legs, shattering the wooden seat.

The pale Slytherin raced away before anyone could do anything. Ron, who saw the whole thing had wide eyes as Hermione pulled her fist back and shook it a little. The skin was a little red, but undamaged otherwise.

"H-how?" Ron gasped.

"Martial Arts training." Hermione said with a shrug. "The jerk deserved worse than that though."

"I think he might be frightened of you now."

The Ravenclaw shrugged and adjusted her glasses. "His problem, not mine."

Ron gulped and edged away from the girl, and then the crowd roared again and they looked up to see Harry suddenly diving.

"Come on Harry!" Hermione yelled, getting into the feel of things.

Suddenly, just a few feet from the ground Harry pulled out of his dive and held his hand above his head, showing that he caught the snitch. On the other side of the pitch Snape looked madder than hell, then blew his whistle to let the players know that the game was over.

Harry landed easily, still holding the fluttering snitch in his hand. He couldn't believe that he caught it in under five minutes. Of course Wood swooped down, dived off his broom, and tackled Harry while cheering. Then a hand grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Excellent game Harry." Dumbledore said, grinning.

"Thank you sir."

"Nice bit of flying there." His eyes were twinkling as they saw Snape land. The man was pale and his teeth were clenched. Snape spit on the ground and stalked off the field. Most of Gryffindor cheered as he left. Even Dumbledore chuckled a bit as he headed back for the school.

A couple of hours later, most of the students were gone. Harry was the last member of the team to leave the broom shed where he kept his Nimbus Two Thousand between games and practice. For the first time in a long time he felt good about the way things were going.

His training with Ranma was moving along quite well, he was doing quite well in school, and he'd just won his House many points. Even Dumbledore had taken a few seconds to compliment him for winning the game. For the first time ever he'd done something to justify his fame.

Shaking his head, he figured it would be a good idea to head back to the common room. The twins had mentioned something about a party. He was about to head inside when he spotted something weird. Snape, dressed in a dark cloak, was leaving the castle and moving towards the forbidden forest. Harry's eyes narrowed as he growled at the man.

He stepped into the shed, grabbed his broom, and flew towards the forest the instant Snape was out of sight. There was no way he was going to let the man get a second chance to kill him. Moving silently, he raced into the trees just fast enough to keep from hitting any of them and hiding among the branches of the large scary looking trees.

In the low light of the setting sun it would make him hard to see, so long as he kept quiet. Harry found Snape standing in a small clearing about a hundred yards into the forest, but what caught his eye was Professor Quirrell. The DADA teacher looked nervous as he edged into the clearing and stopped in front of Snape.

"…w-w-why did y-you want t-t-to meet h-here of all p-places?"

"I thought we'd keep this meeting to ourselves, Quirrell." Said Snape, his voice cold as ice. His eyes seemed to pierce the growing darkness.

"N-now S-Severus…"

"We can't let the students know about the Stone after all."

Harry leaned forward and accidentally missed Quirrell's reply.

"…found out how to get around Hagrid's little toy?"

"B-b-but I-I –d-d-don't…"

Snape snarled. "Very well, we'll have another chat later Quirrell, count on that. Maybe by then we'll know where your loyalties truly lie."

The teacher stalked out of the clearing, pulling his hood back up, and vanished into the trees. Harry stayed where he was and wondered why Quirrell was standing there stiff as a board. Of course that was when an Owl landed on Harry's head and gave a loud hoot.

He nearly fell off his broom, but the noise was enough to send Quirrell fleeing for the school with a squeak of fear. The owl, it's job done, hooted several times as it flew off.

Almost like it was laughing.

oooooooooo

A little while later Harry made his way back to Gryffindor tower. He was thinking about everything he just heard. As far as he could tell, Snape was trying to force Quirrell to do something for him. The DADA professor was resisting though, but from the looks of things, it would only be a matter of time before the guy broke.

The man was a nervous wreck and anything could send him running for the hills. That stupid troll had made him faint right in the middle of the Great Hall after all. Then the man was a joke when it came to teaching his subject, barely giving them enough information to work with. If it hadn't been for Hermione, Harry was sure he would failing the class all together.

Harry also knew that if he hadn't used his parents old spell books he would have been in a bad situation right now. Those second and third year books allowed him to learn quite a bit more than Quirrell seemed to teach them, though he wasn't that far ahead. Second and third year seemed to cover Dark Creatures, so all he could do was read about those.

If Quirrell was the only thing keeping Snape from getting the stone then Harry figured they had about a week before the DADA teacher caved in. That meant he would have to sneak out and set some traps, things Snape wouldn't expect. Harry grinned a little, Ranma would be able to help him there, but so could Hermione. Between the two of them they could make it impossible for anyone to go down that hallway.

He decided that he would spend more time checking out more of the books in his library to try and keep ahead of what people thought he should know. Right now he was just so busy that he hadn't had time to really learn any of the second year spells, but that would change. He just hoped that he would have time to learn more over the summer vacation.

oooooooooo

Author Notes: Ranma and Dumbledore just rub each other the wrong way. Ranma isn't dense anymore, and has learned from several sources how to read a situation. Happosai calls it tactics and defense. Ranma called it breaking and entering. Raising Harry has given Ranma insight into things he just never considered before and it forced him to grow up quite a bit.

Dumbledore on the other hand has plans for Harry and has started to try and groom Harry to do certain things. We all know how the next few books go. It would be very easy for Ranma to ruin those plans. I'm not going to make Dumbledore evil, though he may be more cunning than one would suspect. Snape, is an asshole and let's leave it at that.

Then there's Malfoy, the boy genius. Ya, right. He's a train wreck waiting to happen. I've got two scenes with him and Harry planned for near the end that should satisfy everyone. There is more to Malfoy than I've been showing in his little cameos after all.

Omake:  
Harry watched as Hermione bounced from foot to foot humming to herself as she read and found himself staring at her butt. He shook his head, but it appeared as he closed his eyes. Grumbling, he got up and walked around a little, but his eyes kept returning to her butt as it moved…

…back and forth…

…hypnotically…

Harry growled, grabbed his head, and pulled a microphone from out of nowhere. "I'M ONLY ELEVEN YEARS OLD! GOD DAMMIT!"

Half a second later Madam Pince tossed him bodily out of the library. Where he landed in a heap against the far wall.

Hermione came out, grabbed him, and dragged him off with a little huff.

"Serves you right for making all that racket."

"Sorry." He muttered, blushing a little as he looked up at her…

(Anyone that's read the Ranma ½ manga knows that the characters occasionally pull out microphones at the oddest times and start to declare things to the forming crowd. This usually embarrasses the hell out of Ranma. I figured I'd use a variation of it in an Omake.)


	17. Chapter 17

Note: I'm going to touch a little more on Ranma and Shampoo in this chapter to help cover some of the reviews I've gotten about Ranma being a dead beat dad. Talk about surprising reviews. Heh.

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 17  
By Cory D. Rose  
(c) 2005  
oooooooooo

-Four Years Ago-

"Now let's see…" Ranma said as he sat in front of the small camp fire holding a note book. "In the last sixteen hours you've ran ten miles, done two hundred push ups, sit ups, pull-ups, and spared with me for an hour."

The wasted heap that was barley conscious on the other side of the fire groaned in response.

Ranma nodded. "Not bad for now, but you need to increase that. Now your Ki control has been getting sloppy lately. You should be advanced enough that doing all that should just make you tired, but still able to move."

The heap groaned again, though it sounded rather nasty and had two syllables.

This just made Ranma laugh. "You say that now kid, just wait till you have to do all this in under three hours."

The heap, who was Harry, shuddered a little.

Standing up, Ranma walked around the fire and dropped a blanket over the kid. "Get some sleep."

It only took a few seconds for the kid to start snoring. Ranma wandered around the outside of the camp for several minutes kneeling every now and then. Then glanced at Harry and walked away from the camp. He wandered through the trees of the forest for several minutes, just enjoying the silence and thinking about when he was younger.

There was no way his old man would've ever let him slack off with a measly ten mile run and two hundred of each exercise. Genma was fanatical about martial arts training and would have gone over and kicked Harry awake, tied a couch to his back, and made the boy run for another ten miles while running from the local wild life.

Ranma had gone through the training and always managed to think up other ways to teach a student something that didn't turn into a life or death situation. It also helped that Harry took the training right quick. The kid just had a self esteem problem that slowed him down at times.

Some days he would have a learning curve that rivaled Ranma, but then completely screw up something basic. Ranma really wondered if that was normal for everyone, because Akane had been the same way when he taught her the basics of the Anything Goes School a few months ago.

He was just lucky she was a skilled martial artist and had years of training under her belt. Though he had only taught her the lower school. Happosai had made that quite clear. Only the Grandmaster could know the Higher School unless a suitable student came along and showed incredible ability in the art. There was no need to let talent go to waste after all.

Harry's odd talent still confused Ranma a little. He had a pretty good idea what it might be, but he wasn't sure he should bring it up to anyone. Even after the incident with the flower bomb Ukyo had gone out of her way to think of some excuse that might explain what the kid did. Eventually she settled on calling it a Ki shield and congratulated Harry.

It had only taken a second for Ranma to rule that out though. Whatever it was only had a tiny bit of Ki and that hadn't been enough to even do anything. There had been some other kind of energy there. Ranma shook his head and peered through the trees again. In the distance he could see a small campfire and headed that way.

He grinned a little as he came to a stop outside edge of the camp and looked at the purple headed girl sitting there. "Shampoo."

"Ranma-kun." She purred. She was wearing her usual short dress and leaving nothing to the imagination. The fire crackled, making the shadows around the campsite jump around. "You came."

"Of course." He said.

Shampoo grinned at him and motioned for him to sit on one of the simple stools sitting beside the fire. He wandered over and sat down easily. "It nearly year and half Ranma. You no come to village yet."

Ranma shrugged. "I'm a guy Shampoo. You warriors would just shoot me on sight."

Shampoo huffed. "They won't."

"Maybe, but it would best if I never set foot inside your village again. You know that." Ranma said.

The purple haired beauty sighed. "You gave me a daughter Ranma. Her name is Kalima."

Ranma looked at the girl and grinned a little. "At least I know she will do well in your village."

"Even if boy, we would honor."

Ranma just snorted. "Yeah right. I saw how Mousse was treated Shampoo. He was lower than dirt."

"Mousse special case."

He shrugged. "So were is Kalima?"

Grinning, Shampoo stood up and stretched seductively before stepping into the tent and coming out with a little girl wrapped in a simple blanket. She had bright red tufts of hair on her head. "Shampoo consider naming Ranko, but Great Grandmother say not to."

"She's cute." Ranma said as he took the girl and held her.

"She's a fighter. Nearly kicked hole in stomach before born." Shampoo laughed.

Ranma just grinned down at his daughter. "She's a Saotome, we're all fighters even if we don't want to be."

"Stay and help raise her?" Shampoo asked.

"I can't, I'm still on my mastery quest."

"Training that boy?"

"Yes, he was in a bad situation and needed help."

"Ranma always help." Shampoo said with a grin as she stood up and shucked her short dress and stood in front of him completely naked. "Shampoo want another child."

Ranma gulped. "Um…"

She straddled his lap and kissed him.

"…what the hell." Ranma finished as he picked her up and sat her down on the soft ground beside the fire. It only took a few seconds for Ranma's clothes to fly off into the darkness. Quickly followed by Shampoo making mewling noises as Ranma knelt over her.

The next morning Ranma would have to climb one of the trees just retrieve his pants and one of his shoes. Of course he never did find his socks. He was a little tired, but Shampoo had challenged him in her usual way and made the whole experience unforgettable. With any luck she wouldn't be able to walk for a day or two.

He smirked as he headed back towards his own camp. When Shampoo awoke she would find a large Emerald among Kalima's blanket to help pay for anything that was needed. Ranma may not have been able to be there as she grows up, but he could support her anyway.

oooooooooo

Several weeks later Harry had to admit that maybe there was more to Quirrell than he thought. The man hadn't cracked yet and the stone seemed to stay right where it was supposed to be. Harry even wondered if Snape was just waiting for something to happen before really leaning on Quirrell.

Harry used his cloak to keep an eye on the third floor corridor. Heading up there at least once a day to make sure he could still hear Fluffy moving about in the locked room. He even stumbled across Hermione pressing her ear against the door a couple of times as well.

They had given up on the idea of setting traps though. Hermione figured they just didn't know enough magic to set a trap that would prevent an adult wizard from entering the room. They had also considered that the large three headed drooling dog needed to be fed as well. There was no way that Hagrid could get through their traps to do that.

That was why they were checking the room whenever they had a chance between classes. It was after one of these checks that Ron caught him just as he was about to leave the common room. "Harry, have you heard anything about this Wind Monster that everyone says haunts the dungeons?"

"Wind monster?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, it's caught several students, even Snape, and literally ripped their clothing off with large bursts of wind."

"I heard about the bit with Snape. Who else got hit?"

"Seems Malfoy and his goons were victims a few days ago." Ron said with a laugh. They were found hanging from the rafters in shredded robes that didn't cover anything."

Harry laughed with his friend. "Well, they certainly deserved it. Did you hear about Malfoy hurting those students over near Hufflepuff?"

"Yeah, but no one would go to a teacher." Ron mumbled.

"A Slytherin was seen running from something over near the third corridor too." Harry mentioned. "No one knows who it was though."

"Probably Malfoy, the jerk seems to be spreading his filth everywhere." Ron grumbled. "I can't believe they let someone like him even attend Hogwarts."

Harry shrugged. "Hard to say, but Snape is still stalking around the area so something must be happening over there."

"You think he's trying to get into that room?"

"Maybe."

"Bloody hell." Ron snapped.

oooooooooo

Harry liked being friends with Hermione, he really did, but he really wished she would loosen up a little. Not five minutes ago she just walked up to him and handed him color coded copies of her notes, some revised tables for studying, and brand new quills.

"Um…"

"Exams are only a few weeks away! We have to pass these just to get into second year." She said, looking a little panicky.

"You'll do fine." Harry told her.

"We have to study!" She insisted, dragging him to the library.

"But, I'm caught up in all my classes."

"Then you can get ahead in all your classes." She told him in her bossy McGonagall voice.

Harry took it all in stride. He had very few friends and she was one of the people that seemed to be able to see past his scar and fame. Of course that didn't keep that pack of girls from stalking him around the school every now and then. Then, to his horror, he found out that the teachers had the same idea as their homework started to steadily increase in length and size.

Hermione was in her element and Harry figured he would always see her as she looked up from a pile of books, her glasses reflecting torch light. That kind of thought was quickly dragged off to the back of his mind and forgotten about.

Did Ranma care? Not one bit and just kept pushing his training as the days passed. Constantly running him through one kata or another for hours on end until he had the down perfectly. By this time, Harry had gotten used to all the weighted clothing though. Giving him even more sculpted look that had the girls watching him all the time.

After that Ranma had him meditating and learning how to recognize the Ki pathways throughout the body. These seemed to run right along side the magical pathways as well, something that Ranma thought was quite interesting. Once these were mapped he would be one step closer to controlling his Ki with precision.

The Easter holidays were just starting when Harry had a break through in training. He formed his first ball of Ki. Ranma's Ki was a bright blue when he used it, so Harry was a bit surprised to be holding a marble sized ball of green Ki. Ranma wasn't sure why it was green.

"I don't sense any depression coming off you." He muttered as he peered at the little ball.

"Well, it's not blackish green like Ryoga uses." Harry said. "It's an almost florescent green. Would that make a difference?"

Ranma frowned. "I wouldn't think so."

"My magic?"

"Maybe." Ranma said. "Alright, I want you to focus on the ball of Ki and try and make it change colors."

"But you've said that the color is determined by the emotion used?"

Ranma nodded. "Exactly. I've been trying to read what emotion you're using for that and I can't feel any emotion."

Harry shrugged. "Whatever you say."

"Now just try and will the ball to change to blue."

Nodding, Harry pictured a blue ball of Ki in his hand and it instantly changed. The blue ball of Ki also increased in size. Nearly the size of a golf ball. "This one is even brighter."

"I think you're charging the Ki unconsciously." Ranma said. He held up his hand and formed a softball sized ball of Ki. It was a light blue, nearly transparent, and held enough Ki to blow a regular door to splinters. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

Ranma leaned in a little closer. "That ball is giving off that same glow as the stones and your cloak."

"So it's magic after all."

Ranma nodded. "I think it's a mix of both. You're using magic to enhance the power of the Ki."

He thought about it for the next several minutes, pacing the room while Harry watched. Ranma stopped with a frown on his face. "Ki is the energy of life, something anyone can use if they train correctly. Your magic is slightly different, but I was thinking that it be along the same lines."

Reaching out, as if grabbing air, a ball of bright blue Ki suddenly forms in Ranma's hand. Even brighter than the one Harry is holding and fills the room with light. Then it pops like a bubble, giving a loud bang of displaced air, and Harry lost his concentration.

He opened his eyes to see Ranma sitting on the floor looking at his hand as smoke wafts of it. "Hmm…"

"Are you alright?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, just realizing something." Ranma said. He closed his hand for a second and opened it, holding a small bright blue ball of Ki. "I've been examining that glow on everything that seems to have magic in it. I just pulled some of that magic out of the air. And created this."

"Can you do anything with it though?"

Ranma gave him a look. "I'm not sure. This is all new to me, but I think I'm beginning to understand how I can tap into magic."

He stood up, took a stance, and brought his palms to his side in a classic Ki firing position. Harry quickly got out of the way as Ranma focused on a training dummy on the other side of the room and the Ki in his hand turned into a little sun.

It wasn't a blast of Ki, it was a beam of bright energy that launched across the room. The dummy seemed to just vaporize under the force of the blast. Harry got a look at Ranma's shocked face just as the wave of energy rebounded around the room and slammed into both of them.

They crashed into the far wall as the rest of the energy seemed to bleed out. They fell to the floor coughing. Ranma turned to Harry and gave him a giant grin. "That was so cool. For a second there I felt like I was in a DBZ anime."

Harry nodded. "A little too much power though."

"Feh, the life of a martial artist is fraught with peril." Ranma said, slowly climbing to his feet.

"The bloody panda's saying can rot." Harry muttered and suddenly wondered if anyone outside his trunk had heard that blast. "Uh oh."

Ranma's hands were smoking and quickly turning red. He glared at them, as if daring them to actually start hurting.

oooooooooo

Harry figured he was quite lucky when he exited his trunk a few minutes alter and found that the dorm room was empty and breathed a sigh of relief. "It's clear."

"Good." Said Ranma. "I'll have to be more careful."

"Yeah. Are you going to get your hands looked at?"

"Naw, they'll be fine here in a couple of hours. They're already healing and I should be able to do some experimenting. I over charged that blast and I didn't have any control over the attack like I usually do."

"So you won't be doing anything like that again?"

"Not unless I need to." Ranma said. "You better head to the library, your friend asked you to show up about now."

Harry blinked. "Oh yeah, I wasn't paying attention to the time. Thanks."

"There are a couple of books down in the trunk that I want to check before our next Ki session as well, that little blast I just pulled off has given me a couple of ideas."

"Like what?"

"You'll see here in a few days. I need to figure them out before I train you how to do them. Better get going."

"Sure." Harry shrugged as he pulled on his school robes and headed for the door.

Nodding, Ranma descended back into the trunk and shut the lid. Harry realized that he had his robes, but had forgotten to put on the shirt and tie. He shrugged it off. He really didn't like to wear the things anyway. Adjusting his blue silk shirt, he made sure it was laced up, and grabbed his books.

He entered the library a few minutes later. Of course this was after descending two levels, dodging a pack of giggling girls, and hiding from a couple of teachers that were wandering around.

Hermione was sitting at a table on the opposite side of the library where the Troll had attacked her. The table was nearly buried under books and scrolls as she worked on a homework assignment. He watched her adjust her glasses, sigh, and start writing with the quill again.

"Hermione." Harry said.

The girl looked up at him, blinked a few times, then went back to her paper. "You're late."

"Ranma discovered a new technique." He said as he grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. He pulled out his homework and a quill.

She looked up at him. "He did?"

Harry nodded. "Some mix of Ki and Magic. He destroyed this training dummy and nearly took out a wall."

"He mixed Ki and Magic?"

"Yep."

"I didn't think that was possible."

"We didn't either, but I managed to pull it off on a smaller scale and gave Ranma the idea to pull his off."

Hermione was starting to look excited. "I want to see it."

"Sure, when we get a few free moments. Homework first, right?"

She glared at him.

He just grinned back just as he spotted Hagrid moving around one of the stacks pulling out a couple of books. The large man had a large grin on his face as he placed the books under his arm. Harry waved at him.

"Ah, 'arry!" Hagrid said, looking a little shifty as he stuffed the books into his long coat. "What're you doin today? Not still looking for that guys name."

"We found that ages ago." Harry said, smirking. "Care to give us some more information?"

"Ya shouldn't be messen with this thing." Hagrid said. "Anyway, come ter see me when ya get a chance." He said, glancing around eying everyone, then strolled out of the library.

"That man couldn't keep a secret to save his life." Hermione muttered.

"No kidding and I'm a Gryffindor. We're bad a lying." Harry said with a sigh.

"I wonder what house he was in?" Hermione asked.

Harry shrugged.

"Any idea what book he just took?"

"No idea."

"Check the section he was just in."

Harry shuffled over to the stack and checked the books. He grabbed a couple of books and came back to the table. "Dragons." He whispered.

"Oh great, he's always liked animals a little too much." Hermione muttered. "You've seen him wandering around with those animals they use in Care of Magical Creatures."

"You think he's gotten a dragon?"

Hermione thought about it for a second and nodded slowly. "They're illegal to own too."

"They are?"

"There are no dragons left in Britain."

"Where did you hear that?"

She smirked at him. "I read it somewhere."

"You've got to get out more." Harry muttered.

She was glaring at him, again.

"What?"

oooooooooo

"Harry, I can't believe you're still hanging around that girl." Ron muttered as Harry entered the common room.

"Huh?"

"The Ravenclaw. Are you a couple or something?"

Harry sighed. "I'm only eleven you know. A little young to have a girlfriend, I would think."

Ron smirked. "That's not what the girls are saying."

Now Harry shuddered.

"Now you seem to be showing interest in a Ravenclaw. I'm quite surprised." Ron said, trying to sound older and more knowledgeable.

"That's ridiculous, she's just a friend." Harry snapped.

"Right." Ron sang.

Harry huffed. "I'll be heading down to visit Hagrid here in a few minutes."

"Sure, run away." Ron said.

"Yeah, well, whatever." Harry muttered as he headed up to his room and changed his clothes, grabbed his invisibility cloak, and headed back down stairs.

He noticed as he the portrait opened that several of the girls were staring at him again. It probably didn't help that he was wearing his 'Ranma' outfit again. The blue silk shirt and loose black pants. The instant he left and the portrait closed, half the girls in the common room sighed.

Ron just shook his head and went back to playing chess with Seamus.

"You're not going with him?"

"Naw, he needs some time alone with that Ravenclaw girl. Heard them talking when they were in the library a little while ago. Something about dragons."

Seamus just nodded. "The way to a Ravenclaw's heart is through a book."

Ron just laughed.

oooooooooo

"Harry." Hermione said. She was standing next to the main door to the castle.

He hopped down the stairs, hopped over the side, and dropped the last ten feet to the floor. Her eyes widened a bit as he landed with ease and ran over to her. "Hey."

"You could have hurt yourself." She muttered.

"True, but I've done things like that hundreds of times. So nothing to worry about."

"Humph."

"I brought this as well."

"What's that?"

"My invisibility cloak."

She looked interested as she reached out and touched the super soft fabric. As usual it seemed to glitter in the torch light around them. "This is fascinating!"

"Yep." Harry said, quickly throwing the cloak around his shoulders. Everything but his head vanished from sight. He smirked at the look on Hermione's face. He opened the front of the cloak. "Duck in behind me and we can head out to Hagrid's house without anyone seeing us."

Blushing, Hermione moved under the cloak and they quickly made their way outside, around the school, and over to the large shack Hagrid called home. Harry was glad it was night out, it allowed the cloak to work even better because they had the cover of darkness as well.

"You feel that?" Hermione asked.

"What?"

"The air is getting hotter."

Harry stopped and nodded. "We're only a few yards from Hagrid's place."

"Oh no." She said.

"The Dragon?"

"I'd bet on it."

Sighing, Harry maneuvered them over to the door and pulled off the cloak. "Well we're here, let's see if you're right."

The girl adjusted her glasses and nodded. "I know I am."

Harry rolled his eyes and knocked.

"Who is it?"

"It's Harry and Hermione."

The large door opened, sending a wave of heat right into Harry's face. He staged back under the blast furnace level of heat, nearly knocking Hermione over as a result. "Gah!"

"Hagrid!" Hermione gasped.

"Come in, come in!" He hissed, nearly pulling them off their feet as he grabbed them and lifted them inside.

The heat inside the hut was stifling and Hagrid actually had the windows shut. "Hagrid, it's way too hot in here."

The large man didn't say anything as he poured them tea. "Here, drink this, it'll cool yeh down."

Harry was just glad that Hagrid forgot to offer them food as well. Who in their right minds would eat a Stoat Sandwich? The two students quickly noticed that Hagrid's fire place was blazing away. Hermione narrowed her eyes as she leaned forward.

It was a look that she got when she thought she was being crafty or cunning. "So Hagrid, what else is guarding the Stone in the third floor corridor?"

"I canna tell yer nothen."

"Come on Hagrid, we know about Fluffy and that can't be the only thing or the Stone would've been gone by now. For some reason Quirrell hasn't given in yet, but we know Snape is after the stone." Harry said, ticking the ideas off on his fingers.

"Yeh don't know nothen!" Hagrid growled. "Professor Snape wouldn't do anything like that and yeh know it."

"I saw what he tried at the game Hagrid. We just want to know that the Stone is safe from him."

Hermione nodded. "Indeed."

"Seeing as you already knows about the Stone, I guess it wouldn't hurt yeh to know a bit more." Hagrid said reluctantly as he stoked the fire, making it blaze even hotter. There was a gleam in his eyes that Harry hadn't seen before.

"The Stone is 'ere for a reason. Some git nearly stole it from Gringotts after all."

Harry nodded, recalling when they visited that old vault and the grubby looking package. "That little package was the Stone?"

"Yep." Hagrid said and puffed his chest out in pride. "Professor Dumbledore trusted me with the job of retrieving it. Such an honor."

"Hagrid, that thing is endangering the students lives." Hermione snapped.

"Is not! No one but us and the teachers even knows it's here."

Harry shook his head. "Hagrid, I think more than just us knows that stone is here. That thing is priceless and people will come for it."

"Each professor set a trap around the stone. 'Ogwarts is the safest place in all of Britain for the stone. Even Snape has a trap in place."

"But he's trying to steal it!" Harry said.

"Yeh still on about that? I tells yeh that he's tryin to protect the stone and isn't out to steal it." Hagrid insisted. "We aren't even allowed to tell people how to get past the traps either."

Hermione frowned a little. "But the teachers have to know what they did to protect the stone."

"Aye, we know up to a point, but not how to get past them. It's security, see." Hagrid said. "Now leave it alone."

"Alright." Harry said with a nod from Hermione. They didn't want to make their friend mad at them. "Can we at least open a window, I'm broiling alive here."

Hagrid shook his head and glanced at the fire as he stoked it again. "Can't, sorry."

In the fire Harry could make out a large black egg shaped object. "What's that?"

"Ah, well yeh see…" Hagrid said nervously and fiddled with his beard. "Um…"

"It's a dragon egg, I think." Hermione explained as she moved a little closer to the fire. "No wonder it's so hot in here."

"How did you get it?" Harry asked.

Hagrid grinned proudly, his eyes gleaming with glee. "Won it!"

"You can't win a dragon's egg!" Hermione almost yelled. "They're illegal!"

"Can too, just last night actually. Playin cards with a couple of guys down at the pub. Guy was glad to get rid of it too."

Hermione sputtered. "But Hagrid, what about when it hatches?"

"I've been doin some readen." He said. "Perfectly safe."

"Hagrid, dragons breath fire! You live in a wooden house!" Hermione screeched.

The large man wasn't listening though as he stoked the fire again, the gleam was back in his eyes. Harry shook his head and knew that when it came to dangerous animals Hagrid rarely listened to reason. "Great." He muttered.

They quickly said their goodbyes and headed back to the castle using the cloak again. Harry escorted Hermione right to Ravenclaw tower before he let her out. She was fidgeting a little, bouncing from foot to foot, and looking excited again.

"What?"

"I don't know what to do about Hagrid. That thing of his could get him fired. They are very illegal."

Harry sighed. "I know, but he probably knows what he's doing. He wouldn't be the grounds keeper for Hogwarts if he didn't know what he was doing."

"That thing is going to cause problems, I just know it. We should tell a teacher."

Harry knew that she didn't like to break the rules. "Hermione I think we should just keep quiet about this. I don't want to get him in trouble."

She gave him a stern look.

"I mean, just ignore it for now."

"Alright, but what if he gets hurt?"

Harry really hoped that wouldn't happen.

oooooooooo

As they talked, a blond headed boy poked his head around a wall and sneered. He didn't know what Potter was doing, but he would find out. Fear and hate filled Draco's mind whenever he was close to Potter. He could still remember what happened on the train.

Whatever that was it had given him nightmares for the first few weeks of school. Even his own father didn't scare him as much as Potter had in that one moment. He could still see Harry's glowing eyes, the nearly transparent flames of energy swirling around his body as they burned the floor. Or the feelings that had welled up in him at that instant.

He would have his revenge. Looking back down the hall he noticed that Potter wasn't there anymore. Nor was the mudblood girl who was going to be his target to make Potter pay.

"Granger." He hissed, feeling like himself for the first time in several months.

oooooooooo

Author Notes: Well, this chapter marks the first steps towards the end of this fic. There are only three main scenes left to go before the final fight at the end and I've got some plans in mind for that things that should add to the originality of this fic.

Ranma's attack isn't what people are probably thinking. No this won't turn into a DBZ replay. They were experimenting with mixing Ki and Magic, this made me think of the Expecto Patronum spell from the movie where it lit up the whole sky. Ranma condensed the Ki and Magic into a tightly packed ball and projected it from his hands. Think of it as Raw untamed power. He may not pull off such a move again for a while though.

I've also got this scene in mind with Nodoka arriving at Hogwarts, but I'm having problems finding the right place to place it. It may be at the end though, right after the fight. We'll see what comes up.

oooooooooo

Omake

Winds swirled through the dungeons as the lone blond Slytherin stalked down the hall plotting his revenge against Harry Potter. He cackled occasionally. He barely noticed the wind at first, but then it picked up, making his robes ripple around his body.

"Uh oh." He muttered, recalling what happened to Snape.

He turned to run, but the wind suddenly picked up speed, pushing him of his feet, and throwing him down the corridor. Yelling out, he spun around and felt his robe ripped off his body.

Little pieces of black confetti filled the corridor as he slammed into the wall, pinned there by the force of the wind. Then it quickly calmed down, letting him fall to the floor.

"What the hell?" He asked.

Then he suddenly lifted off the floor and catapulted to the ceiling with a loud splat. Pink gum covered his body from head to toe, pinning him to the ceiling. The only thing not covered was eyes and nose.

Down below, Ranma appeared from nowhere and looked up at the student. "You're not Snape."

"Mmmph!"

"Well, shit."

"Mmmph mmm!"

"Sorry?"

Draco Malfoy glared.

"Fine be that way." Ranma said as he pulled a book from his robe and walked away. "Stupid Slytherins, they all look the same."

"Mmmph umph ugh mmmph!"

Of course, that was when Mrs. Norris came by, sniffed around, then slowly looked a the ceiling. "Meow."

"CAT!"

A blue beam of magic flew down the hall and hit the cat. Draco sweatdropped, eyes nearly as wide as his head as the cat ran out of the spreading wave of smoke, it's tail on fire.


	18. Chapter 18 23

Note: Here you go, the final 5 chapters of Potter – The Stone. It's best to show all 5 of these chapters in one large file. Let me know what you think!

oooooooooo  
Potter – The Stone  
Chapter 18  
By Cory D. Rose  
© 2005  
oooooooooo

Ranma moved through the deeper parts of the castle. Even after all these months of wandering around at night when Harry was asleep, he was still amazed. No matter where he went he always found something that could catch his attention.

One night he spent about an hour jumping from staircase to staircase even as they moved around. One night he even explored the towers and got to look out over the land for miles around. The Astronomy tower had the best view though. Now he was deep inside the castle, even lower than the dungeons and from the amount of dust he was wading through, no one had been here in a quite some time.

He wasn't sure, because magic could make rooms bigger on the inside than the outside, that he might be well below the surface of the lake. Though he could be wrong. Lighting was also nonexistent and he was holding up a bright ball of Ki to light up the area.

On the other side of the room a portrait watched Ranma moving around the room. Ranma didn't really pay attention to the moving paintings since he didn't consider them a threat. Though if he talked to them they were usually more than willing to tell him a bit of their history. He still hadn't gotten around to telling Harry about that aspect.

He spotted and archway on the other side of the room and moved past several collumns. Opening his senses he could tell that a barrier of magic covered the entrance. A gentle red glow covered the whole entrance and Ranma wondered just when it was created. Even now he could feel the power radiating off it.

"Interesting." He muttered.

"And what might that be?"

Ranma jumped back, scanning his surroundings for the voice. "Where?"

"Idiot! Look above eye level." The voice sneered.

Blinking, Ranma turned to look up at the portrait. "Oh, hello."

The man in the portrait, dressed in school robes that were several centuries out of date, rolled his eyes. "You aren't supposed to be in this room. Leave."

Frowning, Ranma glanced around. "Maybe later, right now I'm exploring."

"Leave, or you will be removed."

Ranma smirked a little and wondered just what the painting could actually do. "Yeah right."

The man's lips curled upward a little, though Ranma wouldn't call it a smile by any stretch of the imagination. "So you want to challenge me?"

"Why not? I'm just looking around. I'm not even causing a problem or anything."

"This room is abandoned for a reason boy. I'm simply the sentry to what lays beyond that archway.

"Sounds fun. What's back there?" Ranma asked.

"A mistake."

Ranma shrugged. "Open the door, I'll check it out for you. It can't still be around after all this time."

"It's been around since the school was founded idiot."

He glared at the painting. Why did half the wizarding world have to treat each other so badly? "I'll still check it out."

"There have been three others that went in there and they never returned."

The painting sneered, looking down his nose at Ranma.

"So open it up already."

"You accept the consequences?"

"Sure." Ranma said with a smirk.

The painting nodded at him and the doorway flared with light and with a little pop, the doorway was open. "Don't say I didn't warn you fool."

The air in the room suddenly moved, sucked into the now open doorway, along with quite a bit of dust. Ranma could even feel the floor vibrating for some reason and grinned. The amount of magic in the walls seemed to have increased ten fold as the shield went down.

He ignored the painting as he casually walked over to the doorway and looked through into the room beyond. He wasn't to surprised to find that it was a staircase leading deeper into the bowels of the castle. His magic sight lit up the whole area along the stairs.

Whoever had cast the spells along these stairs had been very powerful. The magic was even stronger here than it was in the upper areas of the castle. He thought about to when he used his Ki to touch the magic on the walls in the Occlumancy room and figured this magic was about twenty times as strong.

After a couple of minutes of going down several hundred yards of stairs, he finally reached the bottom and stepped out onto a landing. It was about twenty feet by twenty feet surrounded by nearly black water. Lighting was filtering down from somewhere high above.

"Now what's so dangerous about an under ground pool?" Ranma asked himself as he surveyed the area.

There wasn't anything obviously dangerous about the place. He walked over to the edge of the platform. He couldn't seen anything beyond the surface, just that it was gently shifting around. His senses were telling him something dangerous was nearby.

Nothing he could see anyway. Then he spotted a ghost standing on the water, several feet from the edge of the platform. He moved a little closer and saw that it was that ghost that he saw in the dungeons all the time. "The Bloody Baron?"

It looked at him, the ghostly blood dripping off its ghostly body and into the water, where it vanished. "Leave this place, Muggle."

The voice was dry and dead, but it didn't bother Ranma. "I don't think so."

"You don't have the power to survive, Muggle. No one does. Get out before you awaken the danger."

Ranma didn't like being told what to do. "What exactly is the danger of this place?"

"Leave, now." The baron threatened.

"Nope, got to find out what it is first. I've faced monsters before, even the King of Phoenix mountain, this thing can't be as bad as that arrogant moron."

The baron seemed to just stare at him for several seconds, ghostly blood dripping into the water, and then he just sneered. "Then don't complain when you end up dead this day, muggle."

Seconds later the baron vanished through the wall on the far side of the room. Ranma's senses were also telling him that the danger in the room was growing by the second. He scanned the area, walking slowly around the platform, but then stopped and spun around to stare at the water.

"The…w-water?"

His eyes widened a bit as the water started to shift and bubble. This was exactly what he wanted to see. A true monster, something for him to fight just for the fun of it. It was one of the things he missed about coming to Hogwarts with Harry. His free time was very limited, but if he had a monster to fight, he could work off some steam.

Though that large dog might make a good sparing partner too, but it wasn't here, and this thing was. Made sense to him. "Bring it on."

Like a wave of black sludge, the water rose out of the pool and tried to drown him. Smirking, a sphere of energy formed between his hands and fired into the sludge. The energy ripped through the monster and it gave out some kind of scream.

Jumping into the air, Ranma fired off about a dozen balls of Ki into the pool and made the monster writhe around in pain. The screaming kept up, but as Ranma landed on the platform several long tendrils shot out of the muck. He dodged and fired several more times, but the thing sludge wasn't making any noise.

A tendril suddenly grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him into the air. Ranma cursed and twisted around, formed a large Ki blast, and fired it right into the center of the muck. The stuff rippled and writhed for several seconds, but not enough gain his freedom from the stupid tendril.

It whipped him around and slammed him into the wall a few times, against the platform, and then suddenly retracted. Pulling him into the sludge. He cursed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to free himself as easily from inside the thing.

Just as he went under he saw several ghosts hovering above the sludge watching his fight. All of them looked quite sad, except for the bloody baron, who appeared as cold as normal. Ranma wasn't that worried though. He had several moves left, even when it looked like he was going to lose.

He reached out with his aura and felt the magic around him and remembered what he just learned with Harry. His aura exploded outward and he channeled the magic from around him through his Ki. That strange screaming filled the room once more and he poured on the power.

All around him the sludge started to writhe and shift, pulling him deeper and deeper. His eyes snapped open, glowing brightly as power exploded outward. The monster seemed to just implode as the room lit up with light. Ranma yelled as he found himself standing on the bottom of the pool.

He stood there gasping for air, his aura still flaring brightly. The ghosts were just staring around them in shock. They were the only witnesses to the event and even then only one of the ghosts knew what Ranma had just accomplished. The baron floated down to the floor and moved over to Ranma.

"Amazing."

Ranma waved his hand. "That thing wasn't that tough."

"Slytherin himself created that thing to guard the castle, but it would kill anything that got close to it. The founders couldn't destroy it and even Rowena foretold that it would live on long after they were gone."

"Interesting."

"Slytherin left that for whoever got rid of the monster." The baron said and pointed to the base of the platform.

Ranma turned and saw that a door had appeared. He used his senses to scan the door before he stepped through and realized that the room hadn't been touched in years. Maybe even a thousand years like the ghost suggested. It was a small space, about six foot by ten foot.

More of an alcove carved into the rock than a room. Walking through the doorway, he made his way to the end where a small marble pedestal sat. Sitting on the pedestal was a thin book glowing with magic. Tendrils of magic that he could see with his newest sensing abilities trailed from the book to the walls.

Behind him, the bloody baron hovered above the floor, watching him silently. Ignoring the ghost, Ranma refocused his attention on the pedestal. Some presence in the alcove knew he was there and swirled around him. After several seconds, the magic around the book dissipated and another ghost suddenly formed in front of him.

This one stood was unlike any ghost Ranma had encountered yet. He examined Ranma for several seconds before grinning. "Amazing, I knew one of your kind would come along eventually."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the last living…I guess impression, of Salazar Slytherin." The ghost of the founder said with dignity.

Ranma heard several gasps of shock behind him, but ignored them. "Ranma Saotome."

Unlike a regular ghost, Salazar looked like a normal person. Except that one could see right through him. "Now, my boy, let me get a good look at you."

Anyone that lived at the castle knew the kind of reputation that Slytherin had, but Ranma knew that people never got things right. The ghost stared at him for several seconds and Ranma felt a bit of magic directed towards him. After the scan was over Slytherin had to smirk.

"Excellent, I knew I was right."

"What are you talking about?"

"Even when I was alive, there were legends of Muggles like you. Muggles that could surpass their limits and become something so much more. Merlin himself taught that Muggles could become magical if they wanted to, but instead the majority of them were lazy and useless. They would much rather run around killing everything in sight, then working a little bit to achieve true power."

Ranma knew that his early childhood, under his father's thumb was anything but…lazy.

"I spent a good portion of my life searching for a Magical Muggle. A contradiction in terms, true, but an idea that fascinated me. I traveled the world looking for them, but even though I found countless hints buried in history book, I never found a living example. Those hints sent me down many paths, explorer, warrior wizard, prisoner, teacher, even the dark arts."

"How does this apply to me?" Ranma asked. As fascinating at the story was, he was about to yawn from boredom.

"You are what I've been searching for all these years. That monster out there could never have been defeated by a regular wizard, I created it to fight off an army of dark wizards. But a muggle with magic could bring it down with only a little trouble due to the type of magic you wield. Life energy itself." Slytherin said happily.

"You mean my Ki?"

The ghost nodded. "Yes, whatever the name, it comes down to manipulating

life energy to direct magic and leach the rest from your surroundings. Just

my looking at you, I can see you have a rudimentary core of magic forming within you. Within a few weeks it will be fully formed and you will be the first muggle in thousands of years that has learned how to wield magic. Just like out ancestors did."

Slytherin's grin nearly split his face. "That book behind me is everything I've collected on magical muggles. Stories, theories, and even some experimental spells. I give it to you and hope you will use it well."

With a shrug, Ranma just nodded his head. "Sure."

Waving his hand, the ghost conjured up a pair of chairs. "Sit, I'd like to learn everything about you. Tell me about your life."

"Ah…well, my life really began when I was only five years old. When I was taken from my mother and dragged on ten year martial arts training trip…" Ranma started.

Slytherin listened eagerly, a gleam in his eyes that could be best explained as a twinkle.

oooooooooo

A couple of days later, Ranma kicked Harry out of the trunk and told him to practice on his own for the day. Harry wasn't sure why, but Ranma was holding several books, so he didn't complain too much.

Ranma must've come up with a new training idea. Now he was going to research it or something. Harry put on his blue silk shirt and pants again. The house elves had just returned them after a thorough washing.

"Alright, but I may be able to help you if you need it." Harry said.

Ranma shook his head and held up a thin book. "Naw, I got this down, but I want to practice a few things that might be dangerous. I found some interesting research material that gave me some ideas."

"I do know more about magic than you do Ranma." Harry insisted.

"So, I'll do this on my own."

"Let me bring Hermione by, she's a marvel with it comes to fishing information out of books."

Ranma made shooing motions. "Out."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be down by the lake if you need me."

"Great!"

He didn't see anyone as he moved through the castle Harry sent his senses out to scan the area. Now he wasn't all that good at this particular skill and knew it would be a few years before he mastered it completely, but he did sense a couple of people moving around nearby. They were easy enough to avoid. So a few minutes later Harry stepped outside. As usual the morning practice took place before the sun came up.

Harry was pretty sure that one of them was Snape, but he wasn't completely sure. His morning practice took two full hours and had him performing a number of the Saotome mid air kata thirty feet above the ground. Because it was so early he tried to make as little noise as possible.

He was still working with the weighted clothing as well, making his practice even harder. While his body went through the motions, he focused his mind as well, something Ranma had recently taught him, allowing him to do things that would have amazed the professors. Several people did witness his early morning workout, but they were only students.

Then he did something he probably shouldn't have done outside, by the lake. He went through his cool down workout, performing a number of stretches and movements that increased his range of motion. This included doing the splits, a number of rolls, and handstand push ups.

All of it took quite a bit of muscle development and control. He really should haven known better than to do this in full view of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers. For he never noticed the hundred or so girls watching him from the windows of each tower. Some of them nearly hanging out the windows looking at him in awe.

Once he finished that he took his shirt off, tossed it to the ground, and ran around quidditch pitch several times. By the time he finished this the sun was well up and breakfast would be served in about half an hour. He grabbed his shirt and headed back for the tower, the shirt slung over his shoulder.

"Potter." A voice sneered.

Harry stopped inside the door and looked over at Professor Snape. "Sir?"

"What were you just doing?"

"Practicing my martial arts. I do it every morning."

"I haven't seen you do that every morning kid."

"I don't normally do it by the lake."

"So you're showing off again? I should give you a weeks worth of detention for that."

Harry almost growled. This man brought out his anger faster than any other person in the whole castle. "I haven't done anything wrong."

Snape sneered again. "So? I can give you detention for smelling up the castle."

Now Harry was gaping at the man.

"I won't let you get away with breaking every rule you come across just because you want attention."

"I want no such thing."

"Don't lie to me Potter. I've seen the way you preen and pose yourself in class. You are an attention seeking trouble maker, just like your father." Snape growled.

Harry's eyes started go glow with rage. "I won't take that kind of crap from anyone Professor. Not even you."

"Attack me then. I'll have you expelled within the hour." Snape smirked at him, pure hate in his eyes. "Well, are you afraid now?"

Then Harry had a stroke of luck. He spotted some movement down the hallway.

"Professor Quirrell?"

The DADA teacher froze as he was leaving a classroom and turned towards them and paled a little as he spotted Snape. "P-p-potter?"

"Could I get you to explain that curse we did in class again." Harry asked, ducking past Snape. "I think I got it, but I want to make sure before we have that test." Harry said.

Quirrell was shaking a little, but he nodded. "S-sure, we can go over again in class today."

"Thank you sir." Harry said. He watched as Snape snarled something under his breath and stalked off. Breathing a sight of relief, Harry nodded to Quirrell and ran for Gryffindor tower. Even in the darker corridors in the early morning, his eyes were still glowing with rage.

The Pink Lady squeaked as he gave the password and stalked inside. If he had been wearing robes, they would have been billowing behind him. His rage kept the girls in the tower from approaching him as he headed for his room. Harry ignored them all and just muttered Snape's name under his breath as he prepared to take a shower.

He didn't head for the gym though, since he knew Ranma was working on something. This kept Harry from taking his frustrations out on the punching bag in the corner. If the bag had known about this, it would have been quite grateful. It took nearly ten minutes for Harry to vent his anger under a cold shower and even then his Ki was hot enough to create enough steam to fill the small room.

oooooooooo

Later that afternoon, Ranma trudged out of the gym. He was completely exhausted and drenched in sweat. He removed his shirt hours before when it started to rip from his body. A smirk covered his face though.

As he walked towards the showers he watched his hand where two balls of pure magic twirled around his hand. His determination won out in the end and he managed to master the first sections of the think book. Slytherin's ideas and thoughts amazed Ranma.

Sure the guy had been a magic user, a strong one, but the guy also looked into non magical beings in a way that no witch or wizard had ever done. A Magic Muggle, or Onmyodo was virtually unknown in society. According to the book, even a thousand years ago, they were only a story told to entertain people.

Unlike Slytherin though, Ranma was working through the information in the book as if it was a hard to understand martial arts scroll. This meant reading between the lines and trying to understand what wasn't being said. The hidden information that tended to get left out of things.

Slytherin's ideas were innovative, but they tended to be a little odd. One of the ones seemed to revolve around extracting a magical core from another wizard and placing it inside a muggle. This experiment brought around several dead muggles and wizards. Slytherin never explained where he got the people though.

Ranma was pretty sure they might be innocents that Slytherin chose at random.

A thousand years ago people looked at life in a slightly more brutal way.

Which was why martial arts was created in the first place. Ranma didn't dwell on it to much though. The years on the road training taught him that time changed everything.

Even Harry's books from the vault were like that, old and out of date information. They gave the basics and seemed to leave out tons of information that could be found in other books. This, combined with his training, Occlumancy practice, and sheer will power, allowed him to form the balls of magic in his hand.

He could feel the magical energies swirling through his body from a central spot in his chest and understood that a magic core had or was in the process of forming. This was just above where his Ki was focused, but the two energies were working together now. Ranma let the magic relax and let it snap back to his new core as he relaxed in the shower.

As he showered he started applying his new knowledge to what he learned from Happosai. The old man was right about quite a few things. Knowledge was a martial artists best friend. A sharp mind and a strong body could make anyone into a dangerous weapon.

It all just depended on how the information was used. Several ideas were swirling around in his head. He would have to check several of Harry's books, but he was sure that his magic was the equivalent of a first or second year student at the moment.

An Onmyodo, or Magical Warrior. A legend that Slytherin came across while traveling though Japan and China a thousand years ago. When the old men heard about this, they would die of envy. After getting dressed, he headed for the library and dug around for the first years books on basic magic.

He read them several months before, but now he wanted to see if his theory was right. It only took him about fifteen minutes to go through the book again. Once he read something it was memorized after all. Once confirmed he checked the time and headed for the ladder.

One thought did occur to him as he used the umisenken to vanish from sight. What that old man Ollivander said to him when they were at the Wand shop. 'I haven't seen one of you in over five hundred years.' Was it possible he would have to get a wand to cast magic like Harry did?

He really didn't want a wand. Using Ki without a handicap like that was easy enough, so magic had to be as well. That book on Wandless magic had been quite vague on the subject though. He headed out of the Gryffindor common room and moved deeper into the castle.

He didn't notice something above the Fat Lady's portrait turn to follow him. In Dumbledore's office one of his gadgets started moving around. The old man glanced at it, narrowed his eyes, and sat back to think. His phoenix Fawks sang an uplifting song.

oooooooooo

'It's hatching'

Harry read the note from Hagrid and sighed. He just knew that it had to happen sometime, but not this soon. Of course he would have to finish Herbolgy first, but he only had a little while to go yet. Harry just hoped what came out of that egg wasn't going to be as dangerous as he thought.

He quickly finished his morning work for Madam Sprout and left a few minutes early with several of the other students. Of course he didn't excel at the class, but he did alright. Hedwig was sitting on his shoulder and he had her take Hagrid's note to Hermione as well. He asked the Ravenclaw to meet him at the shack in case Hagrid did something he shouldn't do.

The morning break was just starting, so he was nearly to the shack when he spotted his friend running out of the castle. She ran across the grass, her bushy hair trailing behind her. Harry could tell that she was a lot more fit than he thought. He was really going to have to talk to her about her martial arts training one of these days.

"She's really in better shape than I thought." He muttered to himself.

"Guess I can't call her a book worm anymore."

The girl caught up with him a few seconds later, gasping for air as she stopped for a second. She ran a hand through her hair. "Hedwig flew right into my Transfiguration lesson. Mrs. McGonagall wasn't pleased at all." She said.

Harry looked a little sheepish. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright, though Malfoy saw what happened as well. He gave me this look that…" She shuddered and shook her head. "It was horrible."

"That git just can't learn can he?" Harry muttered. "I think he may just be spiteful enough to try and hurt one of permanently. We should be more careful round him."

"Me too. Crabbe and Goyle were also eying me like a sandwich and smirking.

Something is going on there."

"We'll have to stop them. Maybe Malfoy should get a martial arts lesson." Harry muttered. They turned and headed the rest of the way to Hagrid's shack. The heat was even worse then before. Harry was amazed that the whole building wasn't one large bonfire.

"I thought Hagrid wan't allowed to do magic?" Hermione asked, tapping his shack with her wand.

Harry grinned a little. "I've seen him cast a couple of spells. He's sneaky

about it so that he doesn't get into trouble."

"I see." The girl muttered, she sounded disapproving.

He shrugged. "Let's see what's going on with the lizard."

The half giant opened his door before they could knock and dragged them in.

He had a huge grin on his face as he sat them down in chairs around a table.

The large black egg was sitting there rocking slowly, a couple of cracks down one side.

"Any minute now." Hagrid explained.

"What's that noise?"

"Just the baby trying to get out."

"Not that, by your door." Harry asked.

Hagrid looked up, moved over to the door, and yanked someone else into the

room. "Now who…"

"Ron!" Harry muttered.

"Hey Harry." The red head said and grinned a little. "Um…you forgot to put your trowel away when you left. Madam Sprout wasn't happy at all."

Harry sighed. "Sorry."

"What's going on?"

"Hagrid's new pet is about to hatch." Harry said, gesturing at the large black egg.

"Woah!" Ron said, running over to the table. "Is that a dragon egg!"

Hagrid nodded proudly. "Yep. Isn't it beautiful?"

"It's not everyday you see a dragon hatching. I'm glad I followed you

Harry."

"Uh, yeah."

"Why didn't' you tell me about this?"

"Hagrid wanted me to keep it secret." Harry said.

Ron just nodded. Suddenly the egg started to wobble around. With a loud crack, it split right down the middle and the baby dragon rolled out. The shack filled with the smell of sulfur as the thing wobbled around. It's wings were folded badly, draped over it's small lizard like body.

"That is the ugliest thing I've ever seen." Hermione said as she backed away from the table.

"Looks like a badly folded umbrella to me." Harry muttered. He also agreed with Hermione.

"What's that?" Ron asked, pointing to the window.

Harry ran over. "The covering's loose and I can see someone running back towards the school."

"Who?"

"It's Malfoy." Harry growled. "This isn't good."

Hagrid reached out to touch the dragon and it snapped at him. "Look at that, he knows who his mommy is."

Harry really wanted to roll his eyes.

oooooooooo

Over the next several days things did and did not happen as Harry expected them to. The biggest surprise was that Malfoy seemed to have kept his mouth shut because the teachers didn't seem to be treating them any different.

Although the weird grin on Malfoy's face over the next few days told them

that he was planning something.

Harry did his best to ignore the moron, but every time he got within a few yards of the blond headed boy he wanted to beat the living crap out of him. Malfoy wasn't going to turn them in. He was going to do something worse according to Hermione. It was how Slytherins seemed to think.

"How?" Harry asked.

"Malfoy is going to turn the situation to his advantage." Hermione explained one day in the library. She was still nervous because she kept seeing Malfoy everywhere she went. No matter how she tried to avoid him. The only place he didn't' show up was in Ravenclaw tower.

"The arrogant moron." Ron muttered.

Harry and Hermione just nodded.

"We really should find a way to put him in his place."

"How?" Harry asked.

Ron shrugged.

"The twins." Hermione suggested.

The two boys looked at her for a second before grinning evilly. "Perfect."

A couple of day later they were still planning with something odd happened. Harry was sitting in the Great Hall eating lunch when he saw several students run by the doors. They were all grinning.

He didn't think anything of it at first, but then more and more students ran by. Several even stepped into the hall, ran over a friend, and they would all leave at a run. This wasn't normal by Hogwarts standards.

Even the teachers seemed to have taken notice of the commotion. Harry got up as people got up to see what was going on. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were close behind him as they left the room and headed for the dungeons.

They found about a hundred students crowded into a little hallway. Most of them were either looking at the ceiling or laughing. Harry looked at the ceiling and gaped. A large blob of pink goo was splattered across the ceiling, some of it hanging down in strands that looked ready to fall.

It also appeared to be growing very slowly, even breathing.

This wasn't what was so funny though. Harry could just make out the face and cloak of Professor Snape entangled within the goo. The man was struggling against the stuff and hopping mad. Harry was too shocked to laugh at his hated potions teacher thought. So he just stood there and watched the man struggle, only to get more and more entangled in the sticky goo.

Several flashes of light filled the hallway as pictures were taken. Harry looked over to see the twins looking at the scene in awe. Then they grinned, eyes sparkling merrily.

"Fred! George! Get him down at once!" McGonagall yelled.

"Wasn't us Professor, but it's BRILIANT!" They yelled, still grinning. "We have to find out how it was done."

"Twenty Points from Gryffindor!" McGonagall yelled. "Get him down!"

The twins shrugged, pulled their wands as the students watched. They grinned in a way that made several students step back. Up above Snape had stopped moving as the twins pulled their wands. He had a bad feeling about this, but the Goo was covering his mouth so he couldn't tell them to bugger off.

Two beams of yellow light fired into the goo near Snape. The goo seemed to absorb the magic and went quiet. The twins started firing random spells, but none of them worked. After several minutes they shrugged. "We have no idea."

"Undo it now!" McGonagall yelled. "I know it was you!"

"It wasn't us!" They yelled back.

The Transfiguration teacher looked like she just swallowed a lemon when the goo gave a lurch. A thick strand of the pink stuff fell to the floor, splattering all over the place. The students jumped back as it seemed to roll around on its own. Then it started to swell outward.

"RUN FOR IT!" The twins yelled as they ran away.

"Do what they said." Dumbledore said.

Holding his hat to his head, the headmaster ran after them with his beard trailing behind him. Harry gasped and took off as well when he noticed that all the goo was swelling. The students cleared the hallway in a matter of seconds, leaving McGonagall the only one there along with Snape.

SPLUT! SPLAT!

She screamed just as the stuff washed over them and filled the whole hallway. Everyone else heard Snape's cussing for the next several minutes. Nearly every inch of the hallway was filled with gooey stands of the stuff now. Two teachers were trapped and they weren't happy.

Harry was glad he made it out the stuffs range before it got him. The Goo now hung in large blobs all over the place with thick ropey strands connecting it all. Dumbledore stood nearby eying the scene. His eyes were twinkling up a storm as he prodded one of the smaller blobs with his wand.

"Fascinating." He muttered.

"Sir, what is this stuff?"

"I have no idea." He said, still grinning a little.

Several nearby students gaped at him. Since when did the Headmaster not know what something was? It was unheard of. This was the guy that the Minister of Magic came to every couple of days to get advice. He gave his lone white beard a tug as he examined the goo.

"Shouldn't we find some way to get them out of there?"

"Of course my boy." He said. "In an hour or so, those two need a break anyway." Dumbledore said as he headed for his office. Leaving everyone else to just watch as he left the two teachers.

"Albus!" Snape yelled.

Harry smirked as he left as well. It wasn't Malfoy, but this was a great

revenge against Snape. As he was leaving, he sensed that Ranma was nearby, invisible to everyone else. He tracked the feeling as best he could and found that it was inside the goo.

He had to leave the area before he broke into hysterical giggling.

oooooooooo

"Hagrid you have to let him go." Hermione insisted. "You're going to get into trouble."

"Set him free." Harry added.

The Grounds Keeper just shook his head. "The little guy is too 'oung. He would die on 'is own."

Hagrid was to busy using a large broom to scrub some oil into the dragon's skin because the thing had grown to the size of a large crocodile in just a few days. If that wasn't bad enough Hagrid was so busy with the thing that he hadn't been doing his job. People were starting to notice.

Instead the shack was full of empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers from the dragon's meals. No matter what they did Hagrid wouldn't listen. Then there was Ron, who was out at Hagrid's shack every chance he could. The boy seemed to be helping out.

"I've decided to call him Norbert." Hagrid told them. "He's just so cute."

Hermione groaned. "Hagrid, this little baby is dangerous."

Ron, next to Hagrid, was feeding a chicken to the dragon with a pair of long tongs. Watching the thing eat was enough to turn Harry's stomach too. Now the dragon was eying his shoes with the 'those might be tasty' look. So Harry moved around the table.

"Hagrid, you just can't keep this thing hidden."

The large man sighed. "I know that, b-but I can't just get rid of him either. Too dangerous."

"That's what we've been telling you!" Hermione yelled.

Hagrid didn't appear to hear her.

"We can send him to my brother." Ron said, watching in wonder as the thing downed the chicken in two bites, showing a set of teeth that would send a shark into a jealous rage.

"Who?" Harry asked.

"My Brother Charlie, he's in Romania studying Dragons. Once there Charlie and his friends can send Norbert back into the wild safely."

Hagrid looked worried. "I don' know." He rumbled.

"Hagrid, Norbert just set your bed on fire!" Hermione yelled, pointing at the burning bed. "He needs to go!"

"…my bed!" They spent the next five minutes putting the fire out.

oooooooooo

A couple of days later Harry was in the common room of Gryffindor Tower, using the extra space to stretch. It was late enough that everyone else had gone to bed. He was down here instead of in the trunk because Ranma would give him the evil eye every time they saw each other.

The Goo episode was still the talk of the school a few days later. No one knows how the teachers were freed, but they were back to teaching classes the next day. The corridor itself was cleaner than it ever had been. Everything touched by the goo looked polished.

Snape was on the war path now. Snarling at any of the student that got within ten yards of him in the hallways. He also seemed to have some idea what had happened because Harry was convinced that the man was following him whenever he left the tower. Before it seemed random, but now he couldn't go to class without Snape appearing at the end of some hallway or corridor with a sneer on his face.

He finished up his stretches and stood up rubbing his shoulder. Since it was so late at night he wasn't wearing his shirt, but had it nearby, sitting on a chair. More than once he would finish up his stretches and find half the girls in the tower watching him from the stairs.

How they managed to keep quiet he had no idea. Usually they would all give themselves away by following him and giggling a lot. He figured he was just lucky tonight. He heard the portrait opening though, and turned. At first he wasn't sure who it was, and then Ron pulled the hood back, and appeared, wearing Harry's invisibility cloak.

"I take it all back. Dragon's suck." Ron grumbled. "The bloody thing bit me."

Harry glanced at Ron's hand and saw that it was wrapped in a slightly bloody handkerchief. "Ouch."

"No kidding. I'm not going to be able to hold a quill or do anything for at least a weak." Ron complained. "Bloody Dragon."

Harry wondered if Ron might have more to worry about than a simple bite, but forgot about it as he heard a tapping. They turned to see an owl hovering outside the window. Harry grinned. "It's Hedwig, she must be back with Charlie's reply."

"About bloody time." Ron grumbled as he took off Harry's cloak and lay it over a nearby chair.

Harry let the owl in. She flew around the room a couple of times

before settling on Harry's shoulder. He removed the letter from her leg and

quickly opened it. Ron snatched it out of Harry's hand. "Wha…"

"It's my brother." Ron snapped.

This just made Harry roll his eyes.

"He'll take it, so long as we can get the dragon to the tallest tower by midnight on Saturday. A couple of Charlie's friends are going to pick it up on their way to Romania."

"Sounds easy enough." Harry said, and then groaned.

"What?"

That thing is growing so fast that it will barley fit in Hagrid's cabin by Saturday. The cloak won't even fit over it completely by then." Harry muttered.

Ron's eyes widened and he groaned. "This sucks!"

"Guess we'll have to see what Hermione has to say."

"Sure, see if the know it all has an idea." Ron muttered. "I'm going to bed, maybe my hand will be better by morning."

Harry really didn't think so.

oooooooooo

Harry was quite tired by the time he climbed into his trunk. He hated to admit it, but Ron was beginning to get on his nerves with his constant complaining. There was only so much he could listen to before it got annoying. In the end he was forced to use a pressure point to put Ron to sleep.

The boy's hand wasn't looking good either and Harry knew that Ron would be in the hospital wing by tomorrow. He considered having Ranma look at it for a second before shrugging. Since he was in the trunk he made a quick detour to the kitchen.

After grabbing something to drink he headed down to the training area. He could hear Ranma working out before he even got to the door. The swearing was a new sound though, Ranma didn't usually use words like that. He peaked his head in.

"Ranma?"

"Harry! Come in!" Ranma said, grinning a little too much.

"Um…sure." Harry muttered. It looked like Ranma was a bit mad with him.

Ranma was sitting in the middle of the floor holding a ball of bright light.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this stuff."

"You discovered something else?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I was flipping through some of those magic theory books you have in the library after I got back from my little…incident."

Harry almost laughed, almost. But he wasn't able to keep his mouth from twitching just a tiny little bit. "What did you find?"

The ball of light started to flicker a little, changing colors like a strobe light. Ranma held it up. "This stuff, if I read those books right, seems to be impossible."

Harry nodded. "Well I don't think wizards mess with Ki very often."

"I figured that, but I would have thought someone would've used it at some point."

"Maybe no one has thought of it?"

Ranma shrugged. "Well it's possible, most of those books you have date back to the eighteen hundreds at least. Some go back even further. Anyway, I wanted to show you something."

"Oh?" Harry asked, leaning forward.

Ranma threw his hands forward and the ball of energy turned bright pink and fired right into Harry's chest. The boy flew back before he even had time to dodge and slammed against the wall.

SPLUT!

"There's your lesson for tonight. Figure out how to free yourself." Ranma told him as he walked out of the room. "Night kid."

"Mmmhmmmhmph!" Harry yelled as he struggled against the super sticky goo.

oooooooooo

Chapter 19

oooooooooo

Grumbling, Harry climbed out of his trunk the next morning. To say he was in a bad mood was an understatement. It had taken him hours to figure out how to get out of that gunk Ranma pinned him against the wall with. He could still feel the slimy disgusting goo on his neck and arms even after taking an hour long bath and scrubbing himself several times.

He shuddered. Ranma just grinned at him as they ate breakfast and Harry knew that Ranma was just paying him back for leaving him trapped in that stuff the day before. Of course, Ranma had turned the whole situation into a training exercise.

On the other hand Harry had learned a new move. The goo didn't like cold very well and quickly crystallized. Harry hadn't even been able to use his wand either, even though he did know a couple of cooling charms from all his reading. He just hadn't actually performed any of them yet.

Instead Ranma had forced him to learn what he called the basics of The Soul

of Ice. A way to focus a person's aura to create cold energy. This aura

froze the goo in a matter of minutes. Allowing him to force his way out of the mess and fall to the floor.

Harry just laid there for a few seconds before Ranma came back into the room grinning. "I thought you would figure it out and you didn't even need my help."

"$# you." Harry gasped.

"I've got a slightly different version I wanted to try out. It's green."

Ranma asked, smiling a little.

"I'll…pass." Harry muttered.

Ranma nodded. "Well you get a few hours sleep."

Harry was already asleep, snoring softly. That was only three hours ago and Harry was still a bit wiped out. Ranma even had him put the weighted robe back on too, so he wasn't moving very well. He spotted Ron sitting on his bed with Neville, Seamus, and Dean standing around him.

"Hey guys."

"Harry, the bite got worse." Ron muttered. He held up his hand for Harry to see. The thing had swelled up to twice its size and teeth marks were looking quite bad.

"Drat."

Ron nodded. "I'm not sure I can go to Pomfrey with this."

"You may have to." Dean said. "That looks nasty. We should show it to a few girls."

Seamus laughed. "Yeah, they'll scream and run away."

"I've heard girls like big hands." Dean said.

Harry almost landed face first in the carpet, but controlled himself. "Dean, that was just bad."

"Yeah, it was." He said grinning.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Actually, it feels like it's about to fall off."

"Do you think you can get through the day?"

The red headed boy shrugged. "Hard to say. I can't even move my hand at the moment."

Harry glanced at Seamus and Dean. "What do you two think?"

"Any idea what bit him?" Seamus asked. "I've never heard of a spell that could do that to anyone."

"Let's get him to the Hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey should be able to fix that right up." Dean offered.

Ron stood up stubbornly. "I'll go to class. This is just a scratch."

"Ron, that isn't a scratch." Insisted Seamus.

"I don't care." The boy said.

oooooooooo

"Harry, Ron's in the hospital wing." Dean told him as they were heading for lunch.

"He decided to have his hand looked at?"

Dean shook his head. "The git started to complain about how much his hand hurt between classes. Professor McGonagall heard him and was shocked when she saw his hand. She dragged him to Madam Pomfrey instantly."

Harry laughed a little. "Guess we should have taken him down there last night."

Dean laughed and nodded. "Yeah, but I'd still like to know what bit him."

"Who knows." Harry lied. "I'll head over and see how he's doing."

"All right, see you around Harry." Dean said as he ran off.

A few minutes later Harry stepped into the hospital wing and saw that Ron was laid out on one of the beds across the room. Harry was glad that Madam Pomfrey didn't seem to be around. He ran over to Ron's bed. "Hey."

Ron didn't look he was in the best shape. "Harry, I didn't mean to."

"Um, what?" Harry asked.

"Malfoy stole one of my books when I was dragged off the Quidditch pitch. I didn't even know that McGonagall had him go and get my bag till he brought it in."

Harry cursed under his breath. "What did the jerk do?"

"I had the letter from Charlie in one of the books. The one he stole."

"Just great." Harry muttered.

"He must have searched by bag before bringing it back here. McGonagall didn't even give him a second glance."

"This isn't good Ron. We just have to pray that nothing happens on Saturday."

Paling a little more, Ron could only nod.

oooooooooo

"Are you ready?" Harry asked as he met Hermione outside the large door to the castle.

"Let's go, we have about an hour to get Norbert to the top of the Astronomy Tower."

"Plenty of time." Harry said as he draped his invisibility cloak over the two of them.

They weren't wearing their robes for this either. Harry was wearing his every day clothes. A pair of loose black pants, and his blue silk shirt. Ranma had insisted when he heard of Harry's plan. The robes were too confining and wouldn't allow him to move if he needed to.

Hermione was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. He had to admit that he hadn't expected her to wear something like that. The girl didn't even have her glasses on. Instead she was wearing a pair of contact lenses and had her hair pulled back into a pony tail.

"Let's go." Hermione said.

They arrived at Hagrid's hut a few minutes later. Hagrid had Norbert all crated up. "He's got several rats to eat and a teddy bear to keep him comfortable."

The crate rocked a few times as Norbert tried to get out. They could hear the thing growling as smoke washed out of several cracks in the crate.

Hagrid beamed.

Harry shook his head and didn't even comment on their friend's complete insanity. "Let's go, we only have a little while to get up there."

"Be careful Harry." Hagrid insisted. "Bye Bye, Norbert."

The dragon hissed.

Reaching into one of the invisibility cloak's pockets, Harry pulled out his Dragon hide gloves. He knew the crate was going to be a pain to handle and wanted some kind of protection for his hands. He handed Hermione Ron's gloves since he couldn't use them.

They headed for the castle as quickly as they could carrying the rather heavy crate. Hermione really had to strain to keep a grip on the box, but she didn't complain. They were just glad that the crate made hiding the dragon a lot easier than they expected.

"We're just to the doors." Harry told her.

"Good, we need to be extra careful from here on out."

"I know, but Ranma is lending us a hand for this."

Hermione blinked. "How?"

"He's going to keep the teachers away from us."

"Fascinating."

They made their way into the entrance hall, up several stair cases. They had to take several breaks along the way to rest their arms. Harry tried to sense if Ranma was around, but couldn't find any trace of his guardian. Midnight was ticking closer with every passing second as well.

They were nearly to the top of the tower when they heard a noise and stopped

in a shadow covered doorway. The invisibility cloak was more than enough to keep them hidden, but Harry was worried that Norbert would start hissing again. Then just down the hall, less than ten feet away, they spotted movement.

It was so dark that Harry couldn't tell what was going on till a nearby torch flared to life, revealing Professor McGonagall. She was dressed in a gray nightgown. She had Draco Malfoy by the ear. "You! Detention!"

"Professor, Potter is out of bed as well!" Draco simpered.

"If he is, then he'll get caught as well." The teacher said, dragging the blond haired boy along by his ear. "Severus will deal with you."

"He's got a dragon!"

"Nonsense!" The matron snapped. "How dare you lie to me! Twenty points from Slytherin."

They waited a few minutes in utter silence before they moved again. They headed up the last few staircases and didn't stop to rest until they could feel the cool night air on their faces. Norbert, sensing the change in climate thrashed around a little.

They sat the crate down and sighed in relief, then Hermione started bouncing up and down on her feet and grinning. "Malfoy got detention!" She crowed, in a whisper.

Harry laughed. "Serves the little bastard right."

"Agreed. Now where are those people? I will not get expelled for this." She muttered as she looked around.

"I'm not sure."

"Where's Ranma?"

"He's around somewhere."

"I'm right behind the girl." Ranma said as he materialized right behind Hermione.

She squeaked and spun around. "Don't do that!"

Ranma laughed and grinned at her. "Now I've heard that before."

"Ranma." She growled.

Ignoring the girl, Ranma stepped around her and walked over the crate and knelt down. "So this is an actual dragon?"

"Yep."

"Interesting. I've met an Orochi before, but never a real dragon."

"It's just a baby, it's too dangerous to be around a school like this one."

Ranma's hand started to glow as he ran it along the edges of the crate. He didn't notice that Hermione was watching him in amazement. She started bouncing again, as if she wanted to ask a lot of questions. "I can sense the magic flow of the creature and its life force."

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I think I've encountered something similar to this as well. I'm just not sure where. It kind of reminds me of Herb, but that's understandable." Ranma said, and then spun around. "Company is coming. I'll be around Harry, but you need to get back to the tower on your own."

"Alright." Harry said.

Ranma looked at Hermione. "If you're interested in learning more of the Art, let Harry show you his trunk. You'll be amazed."

"Huh?" Hermione asked, but Ranma was already fading from sight.

Harry laughed. "Guess he wants to train you."

The girl looked excited. "Really?"

"Yep."

A few seconds later four people on brooms converged on the tower and landed with almost no sound. Harry didn't know who they were, but they were nice enough people. They had Norbert out of the crate and into some kind of harness within seconds. Less than three minutes later four brooms took off and they quickly vanished into the darkness over the Forbidden Forest.

Harry and Hermione felt as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders as they raced back down the stairs. In hindsight this might not have been the best of ideas, but they were just so relieved to be rid of the Dragon that they didn't think.

Typical eleven year olds really. That was why as they exited on to the final landing, they skidded to a halt. A form moved out of the shadows created by a torch. Argus Filch's face loomed out of the darkness and the man had a creep grin on his face.

Then Harry realized that the man could see them and he groaned. They forgot to put the invisibility cloak on. It didn't do any good stuffed in his pocket, that was for sure. "Damn it."

"Well, well, well." Filch snarled evilly. "A student out of bed. That makes two caught tonight alone."

Harry blinked and looked around. "Um…"

"Filch grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him along. "Professor McGonagall will want to talk to you. I'll make sure you don't get out of detention until after you graduate!" The man yelled at the top of his lungs.

Harry winced and wondered where Hermione went off to. As they were moving along he didn't see Ranma holding the girl in the shadow's of a door. He had his hand over her mouth as he watched Harry being led away. They stayed that way for a couple of minutes.

"This isn't good at all." Ranma muttered as he let the girl go. "You alright?"

Hermione kicked him in the shin. "You!"

Ranma grinned at her. "I'll take that as a yes."

"You just left him."

"I didn't have much choice."

Hermione glared at him. "I'm heading back to my dormitory."

"Let me escort you."

"Yeah right."

"Who's the one here that can turn invisible?"

oooooooooo

"I was just exploring." Harry insisted.

"Shut up Potter." Filch growled. "I remember your father when he was here. All Potters are trouble makers. You should be hung from the ceiling by your thumbs for a week. A proper beating might make you little brats more agreeable. Instead it's always breaking the rules, pranking the teachers, making our lives hell with your weird ideas."

Harry had to admit, the man had ranting down to an art. "But…"

"Be quiet, we'll find a just punishment for you." The man said with a grin full of yellow and black teeth.

He shuddered just as they entered McGonagall's office on the first floor.

Filch gave Harry a shove and nearly sent him stumbling across the room.

"Find a seat trouble maker."

Catching his balance, Harry saw that there were a couple of chairs in front of a desk and quickly sat down. He was trying to come up with any excuse he could think of that might get him out of this mess. Harry was still kicking himself for not using the cloak. How could he have been so stupid?

"Filch?" McGonagall said as she entered the office. She was wearing her normal robes now. Instead of the night gown she had on earlier. Her eyes widened a bit when she spotted Harry sitting there. Her lips firmed into a line as Filch quickly filled her in on what was going on.

She turned towards him. "Why were you in the astronomy tower this late at night? Why weren't you in bed with the rest of your classmates? Explain yourself!"

Harry didn't know what to say, his mind was completely blank. The truth would get him expelled, so he knew that wasn't an option. So he looked down at his feet and didn't say anything. He was just glad that Hermione wasn't there to get punished like this. She didn't deserve that.

"Hmph!" The teacher said. "I have a very good idea what is going on. You Gryffindors and Slytherins, always going after each other. It never ends." Confused, Harry didn't say anything and let her draw her own conclusions. He would only speak up if she started suggesting that he be expelled.

"You made up some cock and bull story and used it to get Mr. Malfoy in trouble, didn't you?" She snapped. "I've already caught him tonight and now, just like he said, you're out of bed too. I'm disgusted in these actions! I've never been so disappointed in one of the students of my own house!"

Filch smiled at him evilly.

This only told Harry that McGonagall was about to lay out the punishment. Professor McGonagall glared down at Harry. "You will have detention and fifty points taken from Gryffindor for this!"

"Fifty!" Harry gasped.

"Want me to make it a hundred?" McGonagall yelled.

Then Filch grabbed him by the arm and yanked him to his feet. "Come along, time for you to go to bed."

Harry could barely keep up with Filch as he was dragged through the corridors. The man didn't seem to know or even care about what he was doing to Harry either. Harry finally managed to pull his arm lose as they reached the entry portrait.

The caretaker glowered at him for a second. "Your detention will be decided soon and I'll make sure that it's something positively horrible. Students like you shouldn't be coddled, but beaten." The man hissed.

Harry ignored him as he entered the portal, though he really wondered what could make a man so bitter.

He quickly made his way up to his room and went to bed. People weren't going to be happy with him for the next few days. Losing fifty points in one go was only done for the worst offenses. Harry didn't think McGonagall was being fair.

Sure, he was caught out of bed. They didn't have a clue what the two of them did up there. He would have to work extra hard to make up for the large point loss. Then he had to grin because he recalled that Malfoy got detention as well. He briefly considered the blond and wondered if he had anything to do with influencing McGonagall.

He looked around the room and saw that Neville, Seamus, and Dean were all sound asleep. Dean was usually a light sleeper too, so Harry figured that Ranma had used that sleep point on them again. He crawled into bed and down into the trunk.

After everything that happened he really needed something to drink. He spent several minutes drinking a large glass of orange juice while going into a light meditative trance to calm himself down. Most of the night had gone perfectly, but the one point that kept jumping out at Harry was Draco

Malfoy.

He just couldn't understand what was going through the brat's mind when he pulled stunts like this. This was the third attempt to get Harry expelled from school. The first was the for the broom, then the duel he never showed up for, and now this.

Draco also started rumors about him that everyone seemed to believe. Even the teachers believed some of them. Hermione was about the only reason that Draco wasn't laid up in the hospital wing at the moment. The boy didn't know when to quit.

Maybe it was time to do something about the little pest. Harry was considering options, ones that wouldn't get him expelled, when Ranma returned. "Ranma."

"Harry, I see you made it back I one piece."

He nodded. "Yeah, though I lost Gryffindor fifty points and have to perform some kind of mysterious punishment."

"They didn't tell you what it was?"

"Nope, but Filch was grinning as if Christmas was here and that's not a good sign."

Ranma laughed. "Whatever it is I figure it will be good training."

Harry snorted. "Still."

"I escorted your female friend back to her tower while you were with the teachers. She's worried about you."

"At least she's safe."

"True." Ranma nodded. "It would have been worse if she was with you."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well, two students sneaking out of their houses to meet up at the top of a tower in the dark. One male, one female, draw your own conclusions."

Harry started coughing. "I'm only ELEVEN!"

"So?"

Harry pounded his head on the table and tried to banish the image of him and Hermione doing that to each other.

It didn't work.

oooooooooo

Chapter 20

oooooooooo

"Aghaaa!"

Harry stopped as he heard the scream. The corridor he was walking down seemed to be empty. He glanced around and heard some thing coming from a nearby classroom and crept over to the doorway and knelt down. He pressed his ear against the edge of the door and heard whimpering.

"No, no…please no more…"

Harry's eyes widened a bit when he realized that it was Quirrell. His eyes narrowed as Quirrell seemed to be talking to someone, but Harry couldn't hear whoever it was, just Quirrell's slightly hysterical responses.

"I'll do it, I p-promise…" Quirrell sniffled.

Harry heard movement and jerked away from the door just as it was thrown open and Professor Quirrell raced out of the room as if a hoard of demons was after him. The man looked as if was about to completely break down as he adjusted his over sized turban.

The man moved down the hall at a quick walk and vanished down a stair well. He never even noticed Harry sitting on the floor next to wall. Harry waited till the sound of Quirrell's foot steps vanished before he let out burst of air and realized he'd been holding his breath. Standing slowly, Harry hurried down the corridor away from Quirrell and headed for the library.

He raced in and ran over to the table where Ron and Hermione were studying. They looked up from their astronomy homework as Harry grabbed a nearby chair and sat down. They noticed that he looked a little nervous.

"What's up?" Ron asked.

"Quirrell just broke." Harry muttered.

Hermione sighed. "It was only a matter of time."

Harry nodded. "I was hoping it wouldn't happen at all."

"If Quirrell broke, then Snape will be after the stone." Hermione said.

"Snape tried to kill me." Harry said slowly. "Does that mean he would kill any of the students to get the stone?"

Hermione gasped. "You don't think he would go that far do you?"

"I'm not sure." Harry shrugged. "He was willing to kill me in front of all those people at the match."

Ron shook his head. "I don't think we have to worry about that. Snape seemed to be trying to keep a low profile, plus he'll need to get by Fluffy. That dog could eat him whole."

The other two nodded.

"Could he have figured out how to get past Fluffy though?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think so. Hagrid did say that the other professors didn't know what was down there." Harry offered.

"Well there might be a book here that explains about Cerberus, maybe even how to get past them." Hermione said.

"I think this is getting too big for us." Hermione said and looked nervous.

"We should go to Professor Dumbledore and explain all of this to him. We could be kicked out if we're wrong."

Harry shook his head, thinking some more. "That won't work."

"Why?"

"Because it would be our word against theirs and what teacher would take the word of an eleven year old over another teacher." Harry muttered. "I've experienced this kind of thing before when I was growing up."

Hermione sighed.

"All Snape would have to do is deny whatever we say and bang, detention and more points off for lying."

"But we wouldn't be!" Ron snapped.

"Teachers won't listen to a student Ron." Harry muttered. He did think of Ranma and figured he would listen at least, but Ranma didn't have any way to really help them with this.

"I think we should still try." Ron said.

"No." Harry said, making Ron jump. "We've done enough for now."

oooooooooo

A mean looking owl flew down and dropped a ratty looking envelope off in front of Harry the next morning. It flew off before Harry could even say anything. The note was from Filch telling him that his detention would be held with Draco Malfoy at eleven that night.

Harry grumbled a bit. He was going to have his training with Ranma even if it was held a bit late. By then he would be completely exhausted. Maybe he could get Ranma to go easy on him, but doubted it. Shrugging, he folded the note and put it in his robe pocket as he quickly finished his breakfast. Hermione and Ron were eying him, but didn't ask any questions.

"My detention." He told them.

Hermione paled a bit and nodded, understanding what Harry was talking about.

Ron was still mad about being left out when they got rid of Norbert, but was glad he didn't have to serve detention like Harry did.

"It shouldn't be a be a problem." Harry said with a shrug.

"Harry, I should be there too…"

He shook his head. "No, better that you aren't there. Think of the rumors that would have been started about us if you had been caught."

Ron started laughing just as Hermione put the pieces together and blushed.

"Um…"

Smirking, Harry stood up. "I'll see you two tomorrow."

"If you survive." Ron said.

"I'll be sure to use Malfoy as a shield." Harry said as he walked off. Later that night Harry met Filch and Malfoy in the entrance hall. Filch was holding a large lantern. "You two will think better about breaking the school rules after this." He snapped at them as he led them outside. "A little fear will make you obey the rules. Little bastards." He yelled at them.

Malfoy sneered at Filch.

"Yes, hard work and pain are the best teachers for you little monsters. I only wish I could torture you like I wanted to, but Dumbledore said no. I've still got the chains in my office too." The man snarled at them. "Now come along, if you run things will only get worse."

Harry just nodded in the right places. He was really starting to wonder what their punishment was going to be. What could make Filch so delighted? The man condoned torturing students too, things weren't looking very good. Then Harry noticed that they were headed towards Hagrid's hut.

"Filch, over 'ere!" Hagrid voice boomed out.

The man sneered and looked around and spotted a second lantern in the distance. "Now you two, don't think the large oaf will go easy on you. He's taking you little trouble makers into the forest."

Even Malfoy gaped at that. "Now see here!"

"Quiet!" Filch yelled in the blonde's face. "Into the forest with you and I hope you don't make it back out."

"It's against school rules to go into the forest at night, you…" Draco

growled.

Filch just grinned at him.

The two of them were about to start a shouting match when Hagrid strode over to them, holding his lantern high. "What's keeping yeh?"

Harry noticed that Hagrid was wearing his large brown jacket with a large crossbow and a bag of arrows slung over his shoulder. Fang was at Hagrid's side. Hagrid glanced at Filch. "Let's ge' started, been waitin over half an hour for you to ge' 'ere."

"They're here to be punished Hagrid, don't be to nice to them."

"Bugger off Filch." Hagrid snapped. "It's not yer place to punish them, I'll take it from 'ere."

"I'll be back at dawn for whatever's left of the little bastards." Filch snarled and stomped off.

Draco Malfoy turned to Hagrid. "I won't go into the forest."

Leaning down, Hagrid glared at Malfoy and Harry could swear that Draco wanted to move back a few steps. "If yeh want to stay at 'ogwarts, then you'll do as yer told."

"My father is on the board, I refuse to do this."

"Then yeh can start packin boy." Hagrid growled.

Draco paled. "But…but…"

"Make yeh mind up! Expulsion or the forest? Which is it?"

Draco backed down and looked away.

"Thought so." Hagrid said. "Now both of yeh, what we be doin tonight is a mite dangerous. Now yeh listen to me, I don want either of yeh to be hurt."

He led them towards the forbidden forest, using the large lantern to light their way. Harry gulped a little as they neared the trees. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising up the closer they got. Even Malfoy could feel the change in the air and he was getting more and more pale with every step he took.

A winding trail of crushed leaves and earth could be seen moving into the thick black trees. Harry could feel a slight breeze moving through the leaves to ruffle his hair. Harry shivered a little and wondered just how dangerous this detention really was. He didn't feel right about this and Malfoy seemed to agree with him.

"Now come on and keep up with me." Hagrid said as they moved down the trail.

"You see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Tha's Unicorn blood, it is. It's been 'urt and we are goin ter see why."

Malfoy sneered. "And what if whatever hurt the Unicorn finds us?"

Hagrid grinned. "Nothin in this forest will hurt yeh, so long as yer with me and Fang anyway."

"Oh right." Draco drawled scathingly.

Harry could tell that the boy wanted to say something else, but kept his mouth shut. He decided not to say anything either, Hagrid seemed to have everything in hand.

"Keep to the path and yeh'll be fine." Hagrid said. "Now we be splitin up. If yeh be findin anything get yer wand out and send up some sparks. That way we can git to yeh as quickly as possible. I'll go wit one of yeh, Fang with the other. Malfoy, 'ick which one yeh want."

The blond boy sneered. "I'll take Fang."

"Fair nuff, just remember tha' Fang is a coward." Hagrid said as he placed Draco's hand on Fang's collar.

"You expect me to go alone?" The boy squeaked.

"Fang'll keep yeh on the trail." Hagrid explained. "Jus send up sparks if yeh need 'elp."

Harry almost felt sorry for the boy, almost.

"Me and 'Arry will head down this other trail." Hagrid told them. "Jus follow the blood."

They nodded and moved off. The forest was dark and ominous, setting him on edge as he moved down the path watching the glowing spots of blood on the ground, leaves, and bark. Once they were quite some distance from Draco, Hagrid leaned down.

"Don worry about the ponce, Fang will keep 'em out of trouble. So long as they stay on the trail."

Harry nodded. "This is a lot of blood Hagrid."

The man nodded. "This is the second one I've stumbled across this week."

"Could it be a werewolf?"

"Naw, the Werewolf's are fast, but a 'Corn is faster and stronger." Hagrid explained as he checked another large pool of silver blood. "Somethin nasty is hunten the 'Corn."

"Any idea what it is?"

Hagrid looked worried. "Naw, never knew one ta be 'urt before either."

"Ah…"

"Drat!" Hagrid growled, grabbed Harry by the back of his robe and hoisted him behind a tree. Then the large man stepped in front of him and brought up his crossbow. "Come out! I'm armed, show yerself!"

The night was completely silent for just a brief second, then Harry heard someone moving and peaked around Hagrid's arm to see a large shadow move out of the bushes several yards away. Hagrid eyed the new comer for several seconds before he entered the range of the lantern.

It was a centaur. Harry gaped at it for several second before Hagrid relaxed and nodded. "Evenin Ronan."

"Good evening Hagrid, you're a bit jumpy tonight." Ronan said, smiling a little.

"Can't be to careful when in the forest." Hagrid said. "I'd like you to meet 'Arry Potter."

"Why are you here Hagrid." The Centaur asked.

"There be somethin bad in the forest."

Ronan looked at the sky. "Mars agrees with you."

"Right." Hagrid said.

"You learn much at that school, Harry Potter."

"More than you would imagine." He said.

"Good, you will need every bit of it." Ronan told them.

"A 'Corn has been 'urt, Ronan. Yeh seen anything?"

"The innocent are always the first to be hurt." Ronan said, staring at the sky.

"Right." Hagrid grumbled. "So nothin strange?"

"The forest hides many secrets Hagrid. Many secrets." Ronan told them, then turned and started walking away. "Bane is in the area as well, watch Mars, he may warn you of danger."

Grabbing Harry by the shoulder, Hagrid steered Harry down the path while grumbling under his breath.

"You alright Hagrid?"

"Yeh, just don' get along with those ruddy stargazers that well. Yeh'll never get a straight answer out of them, even in a life or death situation. Its always Mars this Jupiter that. Bloody annoyen."

Harry smiled a little. Then saw something in the distance, above the trees. "Hagrid, sparks!"

The large man turned around, cursed, and brought his crossbow back up. "Yeh stay here 'Arry, stay on the trail!"

Seconds later Hagrid ran off the path and moved right for the sparks. With him and the light gone, the whole area went dark. Harry looked out into the trees and gulped. He could feel the danger in the air as he stood there. A trail of silver blood continued to move deeper into the forest as well.

Harry briefly wondered what happened to Malfoy, then shrugged it off. As the minutes dragged by, Harry sharpened his senses even as they adjusted to the inky darkness around him. He could feel the slight breeze on his skin, every crackle of a leaf or twig.

Then Hagrid came stomping back with Malfoy, filling the area with light from his lantern. The large groundskeeper was fuming as he came over to Harry and glared at the Slytherin. Harry looked at Malfoy and raised a questioning eyebrow, but the boy ignored him.

"Harry, yeh and Malfoy take Fang and 'ead up the trail. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"You're abandoning us!" Draco gasped.

The large man glared down at the boy. "Yeh keep yer wits about ya. I have to check on the trail you didn't check."

Draco snorted.

"Arry will keep you in line." The large man smirked. "I've heard the rumors too."

This made Malfoy spin around to gape at the large man. "You wouldn't dare!"

The large man was grinning as he vanished back into the trees around them with the lantern. Draco and Fang moved several paces closer to Harry the instant Hagrid vanished into the forest. If something hadn't been in danger Harry would have laughed at the way Malfoy was acting.

"So Potter, this seems like the perfect opportunity to me." The blond said, reaching into his robe to pull out his wand.

Harry gave him a bored look. "Oh really?"

"I can hurt you now and blame it on the oaf's stupidity. Maybe this time he'll be fired or thrown in Azkaban and I'll be rid of you permanently."

Fang whimpered and looked around, his tail hanging between his legs as he sensed something in the air. Normally Harry would have looked to see what was bothering the dog, but he could tell that the instant Malfoy found the courage to do so, he would start throwing spells.

Pulling his own wand out, Harry quickly reviewed several spells and a couple of the moves that Ranma had taught him. Even as first years they hadn't really been taught anything really dangerous, but Harry that that Malfoy might know more than just first years spells.

"You afraid Potter? I'm going to hurt you." Malfoy hissed.

Harry just moved into a relaxed stance, arms at his side, and stood there waiting for Malfoy to make the first move. It would give Harry the edge he needed to put the boy out of commission for several days at least. Fang whimpered again and tried to move down the path, but the boys ignored him.

"No light trick is going to stop me this time Potter."

"Malfoy, shut up and fight. Either that or just shut up and do something.

I'm bored." Harry sneered.

"Densaugeo!"

Still glaring at the boy, Harry twisted his upper body and let the spell fly by, where it hit a tree behind him. "Gotta do better than that."

Malfoy's eyes were wide with shock. "I-impossible…"

"I told you last time, you're a wimp and way too slow to hit me." Harry taunted, smirking a little.

The blond boy ground his teeth. "Then dodge this…Incendio!"

Dodging a beam of light is one thing, avoiding a burst of fire is completely different. Harry stayed in control as he dropped to the ground, rolled, coming to his feet a few feet away. He was just slightly off the trail. Several yards from the boys, Fang was hiding under a bush.

Malfoy's fire spell set several bushes on fire. He had a large grin on his face as he started to move towards Harry. "Aren't so tough now, are you?"

"You talk to much Malfoy." Harry said as he put his wand away. "No need to waste my magic on you."

"Why you little…"

Suddenly Harry dove forward in a blur of motion, rolled, and swept Malfoy's legs out from under him. As the boy cried out and went down, Harry reached out and grabbed Malfoy's wrist and pivoted. As Harry came to his feet, he twisted the blond boy's arm and forced him to the ground.

"Aghaaa!" Cried Malfoy.

Kneeling down slowly, Harry placed his kneed on Malfoy's neck and applied a little pressure. No matter how hard the boy struggled, he couldn't get out of the hold. "Malfoy, it takes more than an old family and lots of money to be dangerous. You completely suck at this. I didn't even have to use my wand to take you down."

"I'll m-make you PAY!" Malfoy yelled.

Twisting his arm a little more made Malfoy quiet down. Harry spun his wand around and tapped it against Malfoy's skull. "Stupefy."

With a burst of light, the boy's struggles ceased. Harry waited several seconds before releasing him and standing up. He turned and looked at the dog cowering under the bushes. "Fang, make sure the moron here doesn't get eaten. Hagrid can sit on him if he wants. Being a footstool is about all Malfoy is good for anyway."

Harry made sure his wand was alright and noticed that he'd ripped the sides of his robe up quite a bit, but shrugged it off. He decided to head up the trail a little ways just to keep out of Malfoy's sight. Otherwise Harry had a feeling that he might do something worse to the Slytherin Ponce.

A couple of minutes later Harry stopped as his danger sense went up several notches. He crouched down next to a bush and glanced around slowly. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't mean anything. This forest was supposed to be very dangerous.

He sucked in some air and for just a split second his vision faded and he could see a wall of black fire all around him. Gaping, he tried to figure out where it came from, but as quickly as it appeared it vanished and his normal eyesight returned.

Shaking his head, Harry stood up slowly and moved a few paces down the trail, just to the top of a little rise in the path. What he saw on the other side shocked him more than he wanted to admit. It was a beautiful clearing in the middle of the trees.

Lying in the middle of the clearing was a large white horse. Its white fur appeared to be glowing slightly. It was the injured unicorn. Kneeling near it's stomach was some cloaked thing drinking the unicorn's blood. Harry wasn't sure how he knew, but the Unicorn was still alive, but fading fast. He had to help it in any way he could.

An instant later three throwing stars shot across the clearing. Just like last time he used one, they were glowing a dark red color. Harry yelled as he finished his throw and the thing started to turn towards him. The throwing stars slammed into its back and sides.

It grunted as it was thrown off its feet and almost catapulted into the trees. Harry didn't think about how he just pulled that off, instead he ran over to the Unicorn and started ripping large strips out of his robe. He wrapped it in a ball and pressed it against the Unicorn's side.

The horse jerked a little, but didn't seem to have the strength to stop him. Harry could tell that it was frightened and confused. Shaking his head, he pulled his wand and held it above his head. He sent a shower of sparks into the air.

The cloaked thing was getting back to it's feet, but stopped when Harry sent the sparks up. Then it turned and ran into the forest. Once he was sure that the thing was gone, Harry lowered his wand and let the sparks die. After putting it back, he continued to press against the unicorn's wound.

"Arry!" Hagrid yelled, bursting out of the trees.

"Help Hagrid, the poor thing is still alive, but I don't know how to heal him."

Hagrid saw the unicorn and gasped. Then a look of pity crossed his face and he looked away. "Arry, once a 'corn is touched by…evil, they never survive."

All Harry could do was gape at Hagrid. "But…"

"Unicorn's is beings of light magic 'Arry, they can't survive once dey are touched by evil."

"I won't just sit here and let him DIE!" Harry growled.

"There be nothin we can do." Hagrid said miserably. "The 'Corn is suffering,

we need to…"

"You aren't touching him!" Harry yelled. He closed his eyes and reached for his Ki. It was a long shot, but he had to try. A minute later Harry's aura flared around his body.

Eyes wide, Hagrid backed up a few paces. "Arry?"

After nearly ten minutes the glow around Harry dimmed before it vanished completely. Harry snarled something, twisted around, and punched the ground as hard as he could. He slowly came to his feet and walked out of the clearing. Looking a little scared, Hagrid stepped over to the unicorn.

The wound was completely healed, but the unicorn was still dead. "Bloody

Hell…"

oooooooooo

Chapter 21

oooooooooo

Harry stalked through the school snarling at anything that got in his way. After the Unicorn died he was forced to admit that Hagrid was right, but he still didn't want to accept it. He still didn't want to think about everything that happened tonight.

There were emotions raging through him that were nearly impossible to ignore. That poor unicorn's death was bad enough, but he saw that thing drinking the blood as well. He wasn't sure who or what it was either. All he could tell was that it was wrong.

As he confronted the thing, he felt the aura of magic it put out and could instantly tell that it was pure evil. The thing took three of his stars as well and just ran off with them. Harry wasn't to worried about that, but he would need to find some new ones. He only brought a small amount with him from home. There were only two of them left now.

He snarled as Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat hissed at him. The cat's fur stood up on end and it raced away from before he could even think to throw a spell at her. In some way the cat reminded him of the Unicorn and he felt a little guilty, but only for a second.

A few seconds later he arrived at the entrance to Gryffindor tower and stalked inside. It was pretty late, so he was a little surprised to see Ron asleep in one of the chairs next to the fire. Harry took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and walked over to his friend.

"Ron, get up and go to bed." Harry said, shaking awake.

The red headed boy jumped out of his chair. "Who! What! Wher…"

Harry snickered. "It's late, lets head to bed."

"What was detention like?"

"Bad." Harry said. "Filch took us to Hagrid, and he took me and Malfoy into the forest."

Ron gasped. "But…it's dangerous!"

"They didn't seem to care. We still went in there and Hagrid had us tracking an injured Unicorn."

"Did you find it?"

"Yeah." Harry muttered. He really didn't want to give Ron all the details.

"It died though."

Ron nodded in sympathy. "Do you have to go back?"

"I don't think so."

"Then put it behind you and get some sleep."

"Sure, may as well." Harry made his way to bed and climbed down into the trunk. He wasn't sure what to do and wanted to talk to Ranma before he went to sleep.

Even as he climbed down the ladder he could hear Ranma working out in the gym. A few minutes later he stepped into the gym to see Ranma bouncing around the room with four balls of glowing energy swarming around him, attempting to hit Ranma.

Ranma seemed to be paying very close attention to what he was doing, ducking and weaving his way though the exercise at high speed. Then as he watched, Harry noticed that Ranma would occasionally flex his fingers and glow for a split second.

This would set off a very tiny burst of magic that Harry could sense. He took a second to focus and realized that Ranma was actively using magic to track the balls of light. Ranma created a kata of some kind to practice magic! "Woah!"

Ranma didn't miss a move as he weaved his way through the balls. "I figured out the first steps!"

"Are you doing that wandlessly?"

"Yeah, but I have to keep a very close eye on my power levels though. It's so easy to over power the magic and drain yourself." Ranma explained. "This just takes minimum concentration and a basic knowledge of Occlumancy."

"That mind stuff you've been trying to teach me?"

"Yep, I'm in a light meditation trance right now. I can feel everything around as it move through the magic in the air and my aura. Took me nearly twenty minutes to get used to the feeling though."

"What all can you do?" Harry asked.

"I've actually been having problems with the actual spells. The conversion to wandless magic seems to disrupt the spells for some reason. I still haven't figured that one out yet. On the other hand I have figured out that levitation spell you learned a few months ago." Ranma said.

"Amazing, what about the balls of light?"

"Once I formed those, I didn't have to work on them anymore."

"Show me!"

"Not till I master it kid, I want to make sure I know everything in case something bad happens."

"Looks like you have it down to me."

Ranma smirked, waved his hand, and one of the balls flew right at Harry. The

boy gasped, dropped and rolled to the side, avoiding the ball as it missed his head by a few inches and headed back at Ranma. "Hey!"

"Hah!" Ranma cackled. "So what did you do in detention."

An innocent question, but it still reminded Harry of the Unicorn's death. He growled a little. "It was horrible."

"What happened?"

"Turns out we were out there to find an injured unicorn. We found it, but the thing that injured it was some dark wizard in a thick black robe. I came across the thing as he was drinking the Unicorn's blood."

"It's blood?"

Harry nodded. "Unicorn's are creatures of pure innocence. Their blood is full of magic with healing qualities, if you drink it you can be brought back from the point of death, but it comes with a curse."

"What kind of curse? I drove the guy away and tried to heal the wound with my Ki as you taught me last year."

"You've never healed any one but yourself. How did you help the unicorn?"

"I healed the wound, but it still died." Harry muttered.

"Why?"

"That guy that injured it corrupted it in some way, according to Hagrid. No mater how hard I tried it just wouldn't live."

"I see, and you think you failed."

"Of course I failed!"

"No you didn't, did you try your best?"

"Yes."

"Then you did all you could, there is nothing to be angry about. You will find that it's possible to be the best and still fail from time to time. I had that lesson beat into me by pops as he constantly pushed me to my limits." Ranma said as he flicked his wrist and the balls all vanished from sight. He took a deep breath and sat down.

"Maybe…"

"Well for now, let's think about something else you said. Who was the guy that drank the blood?"

"I don't know." Harry muttered.

Ranma shook his head. "Think about it kid, just who do you know that would benefit from drinking that blood?"

"Well, I thought that Snape was working to get the stone, but he's not injured, other than his leg, and that was months ago."

"Kid, I told you that Snape isn't one to do that. His aura would have told me, but you know one who's aura fits."

Harry frowned and thought about it. "Well, Quirrell has that odd aura, but I don't think it's him."

Ranma shrugged. "Then who else do you know that would want to live at all costs."

He wracked his brain trying to think of someone, but the only person that came to mind was supposed to be dead already. "Voldemort?"

"Yes."

"But, he's dead."

"Is he? I read those books and even read between the lines a little. One thing they all agree on, is that his body was never found, just a pile of ash."

"I don't know."

"You told me what that stone can do, what if Voldemort is after the stone and isn't worried about drinking unicorn blood because of it."

"It makes sense." Harry conceded. "I just don't know if I can believe it.

How could he survive without a body?"

"I don't know, but with magic, anything is possible."

Harry nodded. "So, Snape is going to steal the stone for Voldemort? Well I'm safe so long as I'm in the school, since Dumbledore's here."

Ranma just gave him a certain look.

"Don't say a thing. Dumbledore's the only one Voldemort's ever been afraid of as far as I can tell."

"What did I tell you about letting others thinking for you?" Ranma said.

"That's just rumors and unproven facts."

"Say's the great martial artist." Harry teased.

"You got that right." Ranma smirked.

"I wonder what Hermione will say?" Harry muttered, looking away.

"Hard to say, but we need to discus some plans if Voldemort does show up.

Better to be prepared than to be caught off guard."

They talked most of the night and for the second day in a row Harry only got a few hours sleep. He even decided to keep his invisibility cloak with him at all times, just in case something happened. That and Ranma still refused to teach him the Yamasen and Umisen Ken moves.

The next couple of days flew by as he took exam after exam. When he had the time he would swing by the third corridor and check on the giant dog and knew that it was still in there. Usually sleeping or barking at something playfully. He even spotted Hagrid roaming around the area a couple of times carrying a rather large side of meat.

If that wasn't odd enough, his scar had started to throb constantly, even sending spikes of pain through his brain every few hours. His housemates got used to seeing him rubbing his forehead and suggested various types of headache potions to him. Harry took the advice, but since Snape refused to teach potions properly, there was no way he could make them.

He'd long ago decided to spend his summer practicing potions at home. Of course during the exam with Snape, the git stalked around the room sending death glares at him and a couple of other students. Harry was pretty sure he failed that exam, but didn't really care either. He was still considering not coming back next year.

Harry plodded his way through the Transfiguration exam and really didn't care that it was possible to turn a snuff box into a porcupine. Of course Neville managed to turn it into a blue cactus that shuffled around and sent the class into hysterics. Luckily he managed to get it on his second try as his wand sent a burst of sparkles to the floor.

Then there was Hermione. She managed to submerge herself into the whole ordeal so much, that she barely remembered to eat. She spent twenty hours a day buried to her hips in books, scrolls, and notes. Then waved him off when he tried to talk to her about Voldemort and said she had more important things to worry about than something that may not even happen. Ron barely said three words to him during exam week.

As the week went by it just got hotter and hotter as well. Being cooped up in a classroom for most of the day didn't help. He was just glad they actually taught the cooling charm to first years. It was about the only thing that kept him from going spare. As if his nerves weren't on edge as it was. Snape was still following him around as well.

Whatever the git was up to had to be bad to keep up this level of hate and bitterness, Harry just hoped Ranma was right. He just couldn't find one clue that explained away the man's unwavering hatred of him. The death glares, potions marked with a lower grade than they really were. How he even encouraged the Slytherins to throw things into the Gryffindor potions.

The git even tried to fail his exam because he didn't cut one of the ingredients perfectly. Instead he only lost thirty points for it. Harry already had several plans for revenge thought up. He just had to find the right way to pull them off. The man was going to pay for his actions.

Harry really thought the man should be fired and tossed out of the castle. Three quarters of the school hated his guts as well, even a few Slytherins who were on the receiving end of the viper's tongue. Harry gave thanks to Ranma for bullying him into learning a bit of Occlumancy. Without the calming influence that the skill brought him, he was sure he would have attacked the bastard by now.

His shields weren't that strong yet, but he was over halfway through organizing his memories. Surprisingly this gave him the ability to focus on any subject. Ranma said it was this effect that allowed him to finally tap into the magic around him and cast a couple of spells.

That they backfired, more often than not, didn't matter, it was still magic and he was learning more and more every day. Harry shook his head and wondered if Hagrid had the same problems as Ranma did with magic. In one of their earlier conversations the half giant explained that he was expelled form school years before, but wouldn't elaborate.

He didn't think so, but didn't want to ask the man such a question if didn't have to. Hagrid didn't like to talk about his past very much and tended to focus on his animals a little to much. He even talked about the giant dog and named him Fluffy. That thing was not a Fluffy. Maybe Scruffy, but never a Fluffy. He laughed to himself and suddenly thought about Norbert.

"Uh oh." Harry muttered and jumped to his feet.

"Harry?" Hermione said, looking up from her History of magic notes.

"I'm going to talk to Hagrid."

"Why?"

"It just occurred to me that it's a bit odd for Hagrid to get his hands on the one thing in the world he wants more than anything else. That a complete stranger just shows up out of the blue and has one handy? Are they that common that anyone can get one?"

Hermione shook her head. "You're right. That is odd, and the eggs are actually quite rare since dragons only lay one every decade or so. They live so long that they don't need to breed that much."

"Well it's quite lucky Rubeus 'I've always wanted a dragon' Hagrid was around to take the egg then." Harry said as he started walking away. Hermione grabbed a few books and chased after him before got to far.

It only took a few minutes for Harry to race over to Hagrid's hut. The large man was sitting on his porch resting and petting the head of his dog. He looked up as he heard them running and waved them over. "Hullo! Finished all the exams?"

"Hagrid, on the night you got Norbert, what did that stranger look like?"

Harry asked, completely ignoring Hagrid's own question.

"Just a stranger in a cloak, kept his hook so I didn't see a face. Why'er you askin?"

"Did Hogwarts come up at all?"

"Sure, we talked about a number oh things." Hagrid said with another grin.

"The school, the students, even some oh the animals that are around here."

"You didn't tell him about Fluffy did you?" Hermione asked, looking shocked.

Hagrid fidgeted a little. "Well, er, yeah, I did. I told him after raising

Fluffy, a cute little dragon would be easy…"

Hermione gaped at him.

"Hagrid, was he interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, but feared he knew the answer already.

"Well yeah, who wouldn't be interested in a giant three headed dog? Fluffy's easy ter take of, just play him a little music and he goes right to sleep after spinning around a few times. Just flopps over on 'is side and closes his eyes. Gotta be calmin music though…" Hagrid growled. "I ought not have told yeh that! Don't say anythin to anyone."

Harry and Hermione thanked him for the information and raced back to the castle. "We've got to tell Dumbledore." Hermione said.

"I know, I just don't know how to actually find him. He could be anywhere in the castle."

"We can try his office."

"Where's that?"

Hermione looked confused. "I have no idea. No one has ever actually said anything about it before. I haven't even thought about it before. Is it a secret?"

"Who knows, I guess we go to a teacher then?"

"Right, they can take care of this."

Harry just shrugged and spotted McGonagall. "Professor! We need to see the Headmaster."

The woman was lugging around a rather large book and didn't look very pleased to see either of them. She stopped and gave them a look. "Why do you need to see the Headmaster?"

"Ah…" Harry started.

"He isn't here anyway." The woman snapped. "He left the school right after the last exam after receiving an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic. Which is far more important than anything either of you have to say to him."

He didn't even seem to hear the irritation in her voice, though Hermione

did. The girl stepped behind Harry and tried not to look at the teacher. "He

isn't here? This is bad…"

"The Headmaster is a great man and has many demands on his time Mr. Potter, now if you will excuse me…" She dismissed them and walked off, ignoring Harry trying to tell her about the Stone.

"She won't even listen." Harry gasped and Hermione looked a bit surprised as well.

"Let's find another teacher."

"No, I've learned that I usually have to do things on my own. I tried to do this the right way, now I'll do it my way." Harry growled.

"Harry, no, we can go to Professor Flitwick…"

Harry ground his teeth. "It's tonight, I know it is. Snape sent that note, got the Headmaster out of the school, and now has everyone out of the way. All he has to do is charm Fluffy and jump down the trap door to get the stone."

"Harry, we've got an upper hand on the first years, but what can we do against trap or traps set up by the teachers to protect the stone? We wouldn't stand a chance."

"I'm going, I have to stop that git…"

"Good afternoon." A smooth voice said, laced with hate.

Harry turned to find Professor Snape standing behind him, out of the corner

of his eye he saw Hermione pale a little. "Snape…"

"This is a warning, Potter, if I catch you wandering around the castle at night one more time, I'll make sure you are expelled. So, please, make sure you are out of bed tonight. It would be the perfect present for me and the rest of the school to get rid of you once and for all." Snape said with an evil grin. "Good…night, to you."

As he walked away an aura of red energy flared around Harry, even his eyes turned red and made the lenses of his glasses glow. He ground his teeth and growled, forming a ball of energy in his hand. Snape stopped walking, stiffened, but for some reason didn't turn around.

Hermione had never seen Harry this angry before and could even feel the energy of his aura washing over her, making her hair shift around. "Harry, calm down or you really will be expelled. Please."

Whirling around, Harry threw up his Occlumancy barriers and forced himself to calm down. He pictured a bonfire within his mind and fed his anger to it for several minutes before he calmed down enough to think straight again. Hermione was looking a little worried.

"Snape is gone, he walked off while you were doing whatever that was." She said.

"That man has gone too far. I've reached the end of my patience for this crap. I've done nothing to him, ever, but he just won't let up."

"He does it because he wants you angry."

Harry looked at her. "He's an adult, not a fourth grader. Adults aren't supposed to act like we do Hermione. I can understand Malfoy, he's a bully and a jerk, but that 'man' is supposed to be a teacher."

"You can't let his actions get to you, that's what he wants."

"Not to worry, I'm only going to break every bone in his body with my bare hands, he'll live, I'm sure of it." Harry snarled. "I'm going to get that stone before he does and put it some place he'd never look for it."

"What?"

"I'm going down the trapdoor tonight." Harry told her, then turned and stalked off. Hermione watched him as he headed off and wondered just what she should do.

Why were the teachers acting like this?

oooooooooo

Chapter 22

oooooooooo

After reaching Gryffindor tower, Harry made his way down into his trunk where he spent about half an hour relaxing in a nice bath. Every now and then he had to use a charm to heat the water again, but it helped him calm down. He considered his actions and had realized something Hermione hadn't, Snape was goading him into action.

The man wanted him to be there so he could either kill him or punish him in some way. There was also something else that Harry was starting to wonder about. Whenever he was around Snape, Harry wasn't as calm or as in control as he usually was. He wasn't sure, but he wondered if Snape was casting spells on him to make him lose control.

He wouldn't put it past the bastard, but he couldn't figure out why. It would be so much easier to just ambush him with a few well placed curses to kill him in the halls. Hell, it would be easy to hid his body if Snape really wanted to. It just didn't make sense.

His parents fifth year books had some magic detection spells listed in them, but he didn't know how to cast them yet. His eleven year old body just wasn't mature enough to handle the strain of that kind of magic. He would have to slowly build up his magical stamina to pull them off at some point. Right now that was just impossible.

For now he would have to just go with what he knew. He was far more advanced in his martial arts training than he was in magic, but he thought he could pull it off. He would just have to be careful since he didn't know what was down the trap door.

While floating in the bath, he prepared himself mentally for what was going to happen. He used Occlumancy to focus his mind and bring all his spell knowledge to the forefront of his mind, incantations, theory, and the most useful spells he could think of.

"Snape is going to pay." He muttered to himself.

After getting out of the bath, he dried off, then went to his room within the trunk and opened the wardrobe. Hanging inside was his family's battle robes. He had only worn them once since he got them last summer, but they still looked good. He pulled them out and slowly got dressed in the oddly cut red and gold robe.

Ranma stepped into the room as he was tying the robe in place. "It's tonight?"

"Yeah, Snape threatened to have me expelled if I was out after curfew

though."

"You aren't worried about that?"

"He's just trying to prevent me from stopping him."

"Want me to help?"

Harry looked up and saw Ranma had an odd look on his face. "I have a choice?"

"This is a real battle kid, one of pride, real danger, and pure combat."

"I think I can do this on my own and I owe Snape a beating. He's pushed me to far this time."

"You could get…killed."

"I know." Harry said, it was as simple as that.

"So long as you understand the danger and willing to put everything you have

into the fight."

"I will."

"You represent the Saotome School tonight." Ranma said.

"I won't let you down."

Ranma nodded. Take your staff with you."

"Staff?"

"The one Hagrid got you for Christmas, I have a feeling it will come in handy. Break it over the head of your enemy."

"But it's a tool?"

"A tool is a tool, use it wisely is all I'm saying."

"Alright."

Harry got the staff out from under his bed and checked it over to make sure it was still in good shape. "It looks like fine."

"There's some spells on it." Ranma said. "I can see the magic swirling around the wood. Haven't seen anything like it before."

"I don't know what they would be. Hopefully they are useful."

Ranma nodded.

"It's nearing midnight kid, you had best head out."

The invisibility cloak was on a few seconds later and quickly left the trunk and made his way out of the tower. There were a few people still in the common room, though they were older students, and the really didn't want to know why they were making out in front of the large fireplace.

He opened the portrait and stepped out into the corridor, ignoring the Pink Lady as she asked who was there. He let the portrait close before making his way through the school. As he moved through the school's darkened passages he spotted both Peeves and Mrs. Norris skulking about.

Peeves did glance in his direction. Harry held his breath for a few seconds as he leaned against the wall, but the poltergeist eventually went away. He exhaled in relief before continuing on towards the third floor corridor. The school was eerily silent as he walked, a lot different than it normally was at this time of night.

There seemed to be an ominous quality to the silence, as it something

horrible was about to happen. It made Harry a little nervous, but he ignored it as he approached the door to Fluffy's room. The door was in several pieces, ripped completely off the hinges that held it in place.

Harry tiptoed forward and glanced into the room. Completely asleep, Fluffy lay on the floor next to a small floor harp that was playing itself. Harry sighed as he looked at the floor and saw that the trap door was wide open. Pulling the cloak off, he stuffed it in his pocket and glanced down the trap door. He couldn't see a thing beyond ten feet.

One simple step and he was falling through the trap door. He kept his eyes peeled at the floor below him and landed in a crouch. He could smell smoke all around him. Ashes filled the air and littered the room. Foot steps made their way to the only door in the room.

He moved cautiously, looking for anything that might attack him. Off in the

corner he could make out some kind of smoldering plant matter, but couldn't

tell what it was. He had no doubt that it was something dangerous though.

Snape had destroyed it completely.

That was when he heard the noise and smelled something very familiar. The door across the room suddenly caved in and pieces flew across the room. He could only gape as a troll, even bigger than the one he fight in the library, stepped into the room. A small part of his mind noted that it had on a leather loin cloth, a belt of human skulls, and a very large club with spikes through it.

The thing sniffed the air and looked right at him. It roared, loud enough to wake the dead, and burst into a lumbering run. As it ran at him, the club was raised above its head. For a split second, he started to panic, but then he started to feel completely calm.

His staff seemed to move around with him ease. The troll roared again as came within striking range and brought the club down. Harry deflected the club to the side and let it crash the floor. He gazed at the monster, snarled, and plowed the other end of the staff between the thing's legs.

A burst of light came from the staff as it hit and sent the troll to the floor screaming. It's hands grabbed between its legs as it lay there, but Harry didn't give it a chance to recover. The staff spun once more, almost cutting the very air, and came down on the thing's skull. Another burst of light and the thing's head was buried in the floor.

It twitched several times before it went limp. Gazing down on the thing, Harry was pretty sure it was dead, but didn't really want to fight out for sure. Clunk! The tip of the staff just missed his foot as it skittered across the floor, and then the rest of the staff just fell to pieces in his hand.

"Great." He muttered sarcastically. "That sure came in handy. Now I just hope there aren't any more trolls.

He made his way over to the destroyed door and saw that the troll hadn't been very kind to the room when it passed through. The walls were covered in shattered stone holes. Fluttering noises filled the air above him, grabbing his attention. Winged Keys soared around in the upper regions. Most of them looked rather ragged.

Off to the side several shattered brooms lay in pieces on the floor. That didn't matter though, because the door out of this room didn't exist either, at least as one piece. Bits and pieces of it were scattered around the room. He was beginning to see a pattern here. Snape seemed to have just blasted his way through all the obstacles in his path.

A pile of rubble filled the room. From what he could see it had been a giant chess set at some point. He wove his way through the damage until he reached the next room. Ten dead trolls littered the room, smashed into walls, crushed under ruble, and more. He was careful not to make any noise here, he could tell that he was close to his goal.

What was left of the next room was obviously something that Snape had set up. He found several shattered potions bottles. He glanced at where the door should have been and found himself looking at a wall of black flames. He stared at it for a second. He could remember seeing the thing before, but just not where.

He placed his hand near the fire and could feel the heat instantly. Frowning, he glanced around the mess and saw that one of the bottles was still intact. There was something inside it as well. He sniffed it and felt chilly. Shrugging, he drank the vial and carefully made his way through the fire.

It didn't even singe the hair on his arms. What he found on the other side wasn't what he was expecting at all. He scanned the area, noting that it looked like some kind of theater room. Stone steps descended down to a small floor. Standing at the far edge of the room he instantly recognized the mirror he found earlier in the year.

"Quirrell?" Mr. Twitchy himself. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The man and that over sized turban turned to smile at him. "Potter, I had a feeling I'd be seeing you down here."

"But, but, I thought…Snape…" Harry gasped.

"Severus? Yes, he does seem the type doesn't he? Parading around school like an over grown vampire, threatening students, and all that other stuff. Everything he does worked in my favor, after all, with him around who would suspect little ol'me?"

Nearly everything that fueled Harry's anger vanished in a hurricane of confusion. In a split second he realized that Ranma had indeed been right, Snape wasn't the one. "But Snape tried to kill me! I saw him!"

Quirrell started laughing evilly. "He tried to save you. I was the one trying to kill you. Why do you think he refereed the next match? He really shouldn't have bothered, I wasn't in the castle during that game. Had some business to take care."

Harry just couldn't see it. Then he had been acting just like Snape wanted

him to. "But…"

"Snape has even been using his Legilimancy skills to push your buttons. It's quite funny to watch him tear a student down and ruin everything enjoyable about school. He's been taking an unholy glee at your struggles to survive his class and you can't even stop him." Quirrell sneered. "Even better, he's been wasting his time, cause I'm going to kill you tonight."

He didn't react in time as Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes suddenly appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves around Harry. "I swear, I nearly killed you on Halloween. You just couldn't go back to your tower, instead you have to stick your nose where it doesn't belong. That mudblood girlfriend of yours got in the way as well, but she survived."

Quirrell sneered again and continued. "Then if that wasn't bad enough, you start poking your nose into everything! I let that troll in so that I could distract everybody, but Snape ignored it and made beeline for me. Cutting me off just as I opened the door to see that giant dog. Thing nearly got me too, but Snape took a bite instead. Now shut up, I need to finish looking at this mirror."

The man turned his back on Harry and did just that. Leaving Harry tied up on the floor. Harry struggled against the ropes, but they wouldn't budge. He heard Quirrell muttering something about Dumbldore and the mirror. Then Quirrell started cursing. "I can see the stone! I can see myself giving the stone to my Master! How do I get the stone?"

"That mirror only shows you what you want to see, idiot." Harry snapped and Quirrell whirled on him.

"What do you mean, brat!"

"All I see in that mirror are my parents."

"Yes, yes, it's called the Mirror of Erised for a reason. Just read the words at the top of the mirror backwards, simple and easy. Dumbledore hid the stone in the mirror somehow."

"I still think Snape has something to do with this!" Harry growled, hoping to distract the man.

"Snape went to school with your father, Potter, they hated each other's guts. Snape therefore hates your guts as well, because you look just like a young James Potter. He will make your life at school a living hell, brat, but he doesn't want you dead. Not when he can spend seven years long years torturing you day in an day out for what your father did to him." Quirrell said. "Snape was also trying to break me, but he failed."

Harry shook his head. "I heard you sobbing the other day. I thought Snape had finally broken you."

"Bah, I find it hard to follow all of my Master's instructions, he is strong and I'm weak."

"You mean to tell me that Voldemort was in that classroom with you!" Harry yelled.

The man shuddered. "He is always with me. Wherever I go, he is there. Ever

since I failed to steal the stone from Gringrotts he's been keeping a closer

eye on me, punishing me when I get to weak…"

He turned back to the mirror, dismissing Harry from his thoughts.

Harry's mind raced, he had to find a way out of these ropes and find the stone before Quirrell did. He struggled against the ropes a little harder, but they wouldn't budge. Harry crawled like a snake, lifting his butt and using his legs to slither forward until he could see the mirror.

Who would have thought all those hours creeping around Ranma's house like a snake would come in handy? He was almost there, just a few more feet.

Quirrell wasn't even paying attention to him though. Instead the man slammed

his fists against the mirror.

"Master! Help me, what should I do? Break the mirror?"

Then to Harry's horror, a voice as dry as death seemed to echo around the

room. "Use the boy, he knows…"

Quirrell turned. "You know…"

"Use him." The voice ordered again.

The man snapped his fingers again and the ropes vanished. "Come here boy, show me what I need to know. Look, look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

Harry looked and it was only his Occlumancy that allowed him to keep a straight face. In the mirror an image of himself holding the stone smiled at him, held it up, then placed it in the inner pocket of his battle robe. Harry had almost forgotten that he was wearing them.

"WELL! What do you see?"

"Ah…me, holding the quidditch cup." Harry lied.

"Bah!" Quirrell yelled and pushed Harry to the side. Harry turned to make a break for it when that dead voice spoke up again.

"He lies, lies…"

"You lied to me!" Quirrell screamed, the madness in his eyes was starting to show for the first time. Then the man started to scream, grabbed his head and fell to his knees. "Master! I'm sorry!"

"I…will talk…to him…"

"You aren't strong enough yet."

"I am…for this." The voice sneered.

Whimpering in pain, Quirrell stood up and started to remove his turban, layer by layer. Harry stepped back as he felt ward after ward fall away and he could feel something dark and disgusting emanating from inside the turban. Then things got worse as the final layer of the turban came away and Quirrell turned his back to Harry.

A grotesque white face was attached to the back of the teacher's head. A sunken dead face glared at him with evil red eyes. Where his nose should have been, a pair of slits stood out. It took a ragged breath and sneered at him. "Potter, Harry Potter…the bane of my existence."

"What the #$ are you?" Harry muttered in shock.

"See what I…have become? You did this…to me, brat. I am a mere shade of what I once…was, but the Unicorn…blood strengthened me."

Harry shuddered, the things voice rattled his bones.

"Now, give me…the stone, or die." Voldemort said. "I want the elixir of

life, so that I can live again…"

"N-never." Harry said, backing up another step. He hadn't expected anything like this!

"Don't be a fool!" Voldemort suddenly screamed. "It's far better to save

your own life and join me, than to suffer what I have planned…"

The thing was growing stronger, Harry realized. He noticed that Quirrell's arms were hanging limply at his sides. His hands were looking a little bony, as if aged.

"Your parents died…begging for mercy…"

His anger started to rear its head once more and he snarled at Voldemort. "Maybe, maybe not Potter, but if you don't give me that stone I will kill you in an instant."

"No." Harry said as he stood up straight. "I'll keep it, the thing might come in handy."

Voldemort's face twisted around in shock and surprise, and then pure hate formed on his features. The red eyes lit up like beacons and seconds later Quirrell started to scream. "Master! Don't, you promised me! Please!"

"You will do my bidding Quirrell, you belong to me and I will use you as I please." Voldemort said as his head suddenly sank into the back of Quirrell's head and vanished. Quirrell convulsed and fell to the floor, then arched back and screamed louder than Harry had ever heard before.

A black mist formed around Quirrell's body and started to burrow under the man's skin. Harry could actually see it moving inside the man's body like a poison and in a matter of seconds Quirrell succumbed. It lay still for several seconds before the eyes opened and the body uncurled itself.

Glowing red eyes peered out of Quirrell's skull, black tendrils of mist swirled away under the man's skin. Voldemort had taken over Quirrell's body completely. "Now, Potter, give me the stone." Voldemort said.

"What did you do to Quirrell?"

"The weak willed fool is no more. I've taken his body and will put it to good use."

"Why didn't you do that before?"

Voldemort sneered and pointed Quirrell's wand at Harry. "Because I wanted my own body, but I'm willing to change my plans to take care of you."

"#$& me." Harry muttered in shock.

Voldemort cackled. "That can be arranged."

Harry broke into a run for the exit, but something slammed into his back before he even got close, sending him sprawling across the floor. He rolled until he reached the edge of the stairs. Voldemort stalked across the room slowly, laughing just loud enough to be heard.

"Aren't you even going to use magic to attack me? You, a first year student?

I want to see what you can do."

Fear filled Harry. He knew his magic couldn't handle this. He would have to be unpredictable and use his Ki instead. Harry's arm went forward and his last four throwing stars flew from his fingers. This time he consciously filled them with his Ki and they glowed a deep red color.

With a wave of his wand, Voldemort sent them flying to the sides and they hit the wall at the back of the room. Voldemort sneered for just a second, but Harry was already above the monster's head. He came down feet first on Voldemort's head and sent the man to the ground.

Flipping away, Harry pulled his wand. "FLIPENDO!"

Quirrell's body slammed into the ground as the spell hit.

"REDUCTO!" Harry yelled, but as the spell fired he knew he hadn't done it right. Voldemort brushed the spell away like a gnat. Even as it hit the wall it didn't break anything.

"For a first year, you're quite talented brat." Voldemort said. "Let me show you how it's done. REDUCTO."

A bust of light fired right at Harry, moving almost faster than expected. Harry twisted at the last second and dodged the spell. The stairs behind him exploded outward though. Harry felt several chunks of rock bounce off his back. He didn't just stand there for long.

Harry grinned; he had an advantage. "I got you now and I know how to beat you."

Rushing forward, Harry poured his Ki into his legs and jumped. Voldemort wouldn't get caught off guard by the same trick twice, but Harry had something else in mind. In mid air Harry brought his wand around. FLIPENDO! REDUCTO! STUPEFY!"

The three spells flew out perfectly and Voldemort threw up a shield to block each of them. Harry flew over Voldemort, landed, and spun around. His aura flared and a large ball of red energy formed in his hands. "DRAGONS' WRATH!"

Voldemort was turning to face him when Harry yelled. The ball fired out of his hands as he thrust them forward, less than a foot from Voldemort's chest. The man's red eyes widened just as the ball of Ki fired. Voldemort screamed as the energy engulfed his body and sent him staggering back.

Harry could only watch in shock as the possessed body of Quirrell disintegrated in a matter of seconds. Voldemort's screaming filled the room. Then the body just fell the floor and turned to dust. Then the world lurched. That was the only way to describe it.

The scar given to him by Voldemort so long ago throbbed and exploded in pain. Harry screamed and grabbed his head as he fell to his knees. He could vaguely tell that blood was dribbling down his face from the scar, it hurt to much to notice anything else.

oooooooooo

Harry could barely remember a pair of arms lifting him up and carrying him out of the room. Eventually he focused enough to see that he was in the Hospital wing. Sitting on the other side of the bed was Dumbledore.

"Sir, Voldemort, the stone!"

The old man grinned and nodded. "Calm yourself, no one got away with the stone." Dumbledore reached into his robe and pulled it out for Harry to see. "There, safe and sound."

Harry relaxed and nodded. "I was worried."

"You've impressed quite a few people Mr. Potter, just look here at the table. There must be gifts from nearly every student in the school." He said, indicating a rather large collection of candy, cards, and gifts.

"How did they…"

"What happened in the dungeon was a closely guarded secret, so as with all things of this nature, everyone knows about it. I believe Fred and George Weasley sent along the privy cover."

"How long have I been here?"

"About ten hours, you were completely drained when Severus and I found you and carried you back up here. You refused to go to sleep until we gave you some Dreamless Sleep Potion. By now your energies should be quite replenished." Dumbledore explained.

"And what about Voldemort?"

Dumbledore smiled again. "From what I've been able to figure out, you destroyed him, completely."

"Huh? How? I wasn't nowhere near strong enough to take him down."

"It involves a number of factors. For instance, when you Voldemort tried to kill you the first time, I've always believed that your mother gave up her life to place a shield around you. That shield had been with you for your entire life. I believe that when you fired that Ki blast of yours, you imbued it with the energy of your shield and it ripped Quirrell/Voldemort to pieces, leaving only a pile of dust behind."

"I wasn't sure the Ki blast would be that effective. I knew throwing spells at him would be next to useless, but he didn't know much about my martial arts."

"Indeed, Quirrell never really talked about you." Dumbledore said. "I think Voldemort underestimated you once more and paid for it."

"Will he be back this time?"

"It's hard to say, I don't think so, but it's so hard to tell. Now, I'd like to hear the whole story from your point of view."

Harry stared explaining, starting with what he learned around Christmas, overhearing Snape threatening Quirrell on several occasions, and even Hagrid's involvement. Dumbledore didn't say anything as he took the story in and seemed to glean something from its telling. As if he was confirming something. "Very good Mr. Potter, now I have some rather bad news for you, I hope your up for it."

He gulped. "What news?"

"It seems someone attacked and hung Professor Snape to the ceiling of the Great Hall last night around midnight. More of that Goo."

Harry snorted. "How is that bad news?"

"It seems he's blaming it on you. We know you were down the trap door, but he doesn't."

"I'll take my chances." Harry said with a grin. "Is he still up there?"

"No, we managed to get him down after a couple of hours, but he's been calling for you expulsion."

"Eh, let him rant." Harry said with a shrug.

Smiling, Dumbledore stood up. "The other bit of news is that a projection of what happened down there with Voldemort has been released to the public. I'm not sure who or how anyone got it, but it seems you may find yourself even more famous by the time tomorrow's edition of The Daily Prophet comes out.

Reporters have been swarming the castle for the last few hours trying to get an interview with you."

"Oh, joy." Harry muttered as Dumbledore left the room. He waited about a minute before talking again. "Ranma?"

Ranma appeared at the end of the bed grinning a little. "You getting better at detecting me?"

"I just guessed."

This just made Ranma laugh. "You'll figure it out here pretty soon."

"So what did I miss out on?"

Ranma took Dumbledore's recently vacated seat and put his feet up on the bed as he leaned back in the chair. "Well, I took a little stroll after you left last night and made sure your girlfriend didn't interfere. She tried to meet you there too, but I knocked her out and dragged her back into her dorm. She woke up hopping mad too. Cussed me out pretty good this morning." Ranma said with a smirk.

"Thanks for keeping her safe, but she's not my girlfriend." Harry grumbled.

"She's close enough, you two hang out all the time these days."

Harry blushed and looked away. "Yeah well…"

Ranma just snickered. "You need another twenty four hours of rest to build up your Ki reserves completely. Practice your Occlumancy, make sure to meditate, and get your new memories sorted. Then its back to training for you."

"Alright."

oooooooooo

As it turned out, being more famous was an understatement. Harry realized the next day as he made his way down to the leaving feast. At the beginning of the year he was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Live. At the end of the year he was now Harry Potter, The Boy Who Defeated Voldemort.

The papers were hailing him as the greatest thing since sliced cheese. A pack of students were following around now and it wasn't just giggling girls either, but students from every house. They didn't say anything either, but just stood there staring at him, as if he was Merlin himself.

Harry wasn't as irritated as he would have been though. The fact that Voldemort had been possessing Quirrell sent a bunch of students and even their parents into hysterics. The entire Hospital Wing filled up by the end of the day. Most recovered quickly, but several would be out of it for days. Just mentioning the name Voldemort cause people to scream and run for their lives.

Harry didn't know whether to be amused or shocked that anyone could be afraid of a person's name. Sure the man was a psychopath, but it didn't summon the man himself every time his name was mentioned. As usual, Ranma kept a low profile and stayed in the trunk.

He was busy setting up some new moves to teach him for when they got home.

Then, surprisingly, it would be time for him to go to summer school again.

Ranma insisted that he keep busy and learn about both worlds completely. Harry still wasn't sure about that one, but he could deal with it. Besides, it would give him an advantage.

He wondered if Stevenson would be around again, then shrugged. There were also whispers around the school about the Ministry talking about giving him a reward, after they examined the projection a little more closely of course. They wanted to make sure he wasn't' lying. Harry knew it was true, so he didn't care one way or the other.

As he was rounding a corner he sensed something and paid attention to his surrounding for the first time all day. He looked around him and knew that something was watching him, but he wasn't sure what it was. Reaching out with his magic, he detected three living entities nearby. Narrowing his eyes, he formed a small ball of energy in his hand. And stared at the source of the biggest one.

"Who are you, speak up or else." He snapped.

The form didn't move for a second, but then it reached up and pulled the hood of an invisibility cloak back to reveal a tall black man. He smiled at him. "Kingsley Shacklebolt, Auror. I was assigned to keep an eye on you for the next few days until this whole mess calms down."

"True, but you aren't telling me the whole truth." Harry said, trusting his instincts.

The man blinked in surprise and smiled a little wider. "Good guess kid, there's also been a threat on your life from an anonymous source. I'm here to prevent that as well."

Harry nodded. "Alright, are those two others, there and there, with you?"

"They are, how can you tell where they are though?"

"They need a bath." Harry said, smirked, and turned to finish his walk to the leaving feast. He heard the man laugh as he pulled the hood back up and vanish. The other two just grumbled something about punk kids.

Just as he entered the great hall, a bushy haired Ravenclaw tackled him and burst into tears. He consoled her as best he could until she calmed down. "Calm down Hermione."

"But, but…"

"You're worried because you fell asleep, right?"

"Yes."

"Ranma told me that he knocked you out for the night. He didn't want you getting hurt in case something bad happened." Harry explained.

The girl glared at him for a second before just nodding. "I can understand that, but I can also take care of myself."

"Hermione…"

"I've got some training too, I could have helped out, planned strategies, anything. Yet you left me behind." She said, huffed, and walked away.

He watched her go and sighed. Hopefully she would get over it and they could be friends again. The hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood up and Harry glanced around the room. There was something dangerous nearby and it was focused on him.

Whatever it was, didn't seem to be moving any closer though. Just a general kind of danger that made its presence known. He couldn't see anything that it might be and was to indistinct to focus on. After a few seconds he continued on into the great hall and headed for the Gryffindor table. Several of the students nodded to him, but everyone else looked at him awe.

Ignoring the morons, he took his usual seat and turned to say hello to Ron, but the red headed boy turned away and stuffed some food in his mouth. Frowning, Harry tried to get his attention, but the boy growled, grabbed some candies out of a nearby bowl, and moved down the table.

"What the heck?"

"He's been bitching about you ever since he saw the paper this morning."

Fred Weasley said from across the table. Or was that George?

"Indeed, such course language from our little brother."

"I wonder who the Bloody Hell…"

"…He learned it from."

"Couldn't have been us…"

"…we're to innocent and lovable."

They grinned as little halos formed over their heads. Harry snorted and shrugged. Ron was quite fickle when it came to things and was blowing everything out of proportion. "I take it he's done this before?"

"He thinks the worlds one big hand me down and that he's cursed to be a loser for the rest of his life."

"A right pain in the back side, he is."

Harry shrugged. "Well, at least I learned this now."

"He'll forgive you…"

"…for getting your name in the paper, eventually. Maybe…

"…next year."

The twins said and rolled their eyes. That was when Harry noticed Headmaster Dumbledore standing up at the Teacher's table. The room quieted as he raised his arms, his eyes twinkling. "May I have your attention please? Thank you, now as quite a few of you know, we had quite an amazing thing happen. Harry Potter defeated Voldemort once more and this time killed him completely!"

The hall filled with cheers and the twins even managed to get everyone to stomp on the floor and pound on the table as they cheered. Harry just ducked his head and wondered if hiding under the table would work. That was until he saw the murderous look Professor Snape was sending his way.

For some reason Harry just smirked at the jerk and gave him an little wave. If anything, the man got even angrier than before as he started to grit his teeth in fury. Across the room the Slytherin table was the only one not really participating, though several of the students had at first, but now they appeared to be unconscious in their seats.

Over a third of the Slytherin students were glaring at him and fingering their wands, but looked away when Harry caught their eyes. It took a full ten minutes for them to wind down and Dumbledore let them cheer as long as they wanted. "Now that you have that out of your system, we can get on to the year end announcements.

"It seems that one of the students broke into one of the sealed classrooms and took some books. Argus Filch would like the missing books returned so that the ghost that haunts the room will stop haunting him. Now, the house cup was a little hard to determine this year, initially it was going to go to Slytherin, but in the last twenty four hours members of the house lost nearly three hundred points for various infractions. Curing students in the halls, insulting teachers, and dozens of other things."

The Slytherin students all glared at Dumbledore. Harry really wondered if they were all taught to glare and finger their wands that way. They must practice it for hours on end.

Dumbledore continued. "Now, I've been told by the School Board that I can't

offer points to Mr. Potter for his actions…"

"What!" Half the school yelled.

"…because what he did is worth so many points that it would give Gryffindor house the house cup for the next couple of generations." Dumbledore said and let the grumbling die down. "Instead, Mr. Potter will be awarded several awards over the next couple of weeks. So I award twenty points to Hermione Granger for helping Mr. Potter to solve the mystery of the third floor corridor."

If she had been there, she would have been shocked.

"That still leaves Gryffindor with the house cup." Dumbledore finished and clapped his hands and the banners above the tables suddenly changed to red and gold. On the other side of the room, Draco Malfoy growled loud enough for even Harry to hear him.

Dumbledore ignored it though. "Now, I've talked long enough. Enjoy the feast and this truly amazing turn of events!"

The students cheered as Dumbledore glanced over at Harry for a second, then moved to sit back down. Harry spent most of the feast talking to Neville and the Weasley twins. After that people started to leave the hall, though a lot of them detoured over to the Gryffindor table to congratulate Harry.

He took it in stride and shook people's hands. That didn't mean he was unaware of the growing feeling of danger around him though. If anything, it was worse now than when he entered. It must have shown on his face, because Neville asked him what was wrong.

"I'm not sure, I'm just sensing something dangerous in the room. It's unfocused and hard to trace. No one seems to be acting out of the ordinary."

Neville took a covert glance around. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary, other than the look of pure hate on Malfoy's face."

Harry shrugged at that one. "He tried to attack me when I was in detention with him. Taught him a lesson too."

"Well you be careful Harry, the Malfoy family keep dozens of lawyers on retainer and can find loop holes in the law that make it nearly impossible to punish them properly. The family is full of dark wizards that always support Dark Lords faithfully, but it can never be proved legally." Neville told him, remembering some of his Grandma's stories.

"I'll just beat him up. He's just a spoiled brat who doesn't know how to do anything except throw around his name. It makes him feel important."

"True, just be careful."

"No problem." Harry said.

oooooooooo

Chapter 23

oooooooooo

Harry wasn't sure how, but Dumbledore managed to get rid of the reporters. It was a relief to have that problem take care of. He also forgot that the exam results would be handed out the next day, but when he go them he found that he did quite well. Better than he expected.

He even noticed that he could recall everything that happened during the year, theory, practical, and even the little details. Ranma explained that it was part of the Occlumancy meditation he was doing every night. It focused his mind and allowed him to have near perfect recall.

According to the results he was first in Gryffindor, grade wise and only twentieth in the school. Hermione got the highest scores of everyone, first in Ravenclaw and the school. Earning her an award from the Board for the smartest witch of the year.

There was even a rumor floating around that Malfoy's two bodyguards, Crabble and Goyle, failed their tests. No one knew for sure, but another rumor said that their fathers came in and had a little talk with Snape about their studies late one night a couple of days later.

No one knew if it was true, but the two boys were known to be dumb as posts and even then couldn't think their way out of a wet paper bag. With a wand and step by step instructions. Harry just laughed and shrugged it off when he heard it though. There was no way Malfoy would let those two think for themselves and kicking them out of school, for a pair of purebloods, would never happen.

Harry and Ranma had to spend the rest of the time securing the inside of the trunk. The two of them acquired quite a bit of notes and material over the year and Harry didn't wan to forget anything. Each level of the trunk was given a thorough cleaning.

Soon everyone's trunks were packed and the teachers took unholy glee in handing out notes about them not performing any magic during the summer holiday. Harry was going to be busy with the summer school again, so he wasn't to worried, and Ranma promised him that he would start teaching him some wandless magic. Which couldn't be detected by the ministry.

He even showed Harry the book where he found the information. Harry couldn't wait to start working on it. Once everything was put away, Harry met the rest of the first year students in the front hall. Hagrid was there to take them back across the lake in the boats.

First years were the only ones that weren't allowed to go back in the carriages. They arrived before the carriages did, so they were able to get some good seats in the first year part of the train. Hermione even managed to track him down a few minutes later.

"Are you still mad at me?" He asked.

"I'm just upset. I don't like being treated like I'm useless." Hermione explained, after she hit him a few more times.

Harry just ginned and took a few hits over the head as the girl let off some more steam. Then she hugged him.

"I'll see you next year Harry."

"No problem."

She left and headed back to sit with some of the friends she made in Ravenclaw. Harry was a bit surprised to find himself alone. Eventually the train started to move and Harry sat back in his empty seat. He was also feeling that impending feeling of danger again.

This time it was much stronger than before. He also noticed that he wasn't hearing anything from the cars on either side of him. Frowning he climbed to his feet and glanced around. He could see that they were passing by the occasional towns and over bridges, but couldn't find anything dangerous.

He wasn't sure what happened next, as he never heard a sound, but the door to suddenly slid open and three spells fired at him from less than a foot away. Harry didn't even see who fired at him, he just reacted to the threat. The first spell missed his neck by less than an inch as his body blurred.

Sailed by his head and caused the glass of the window to shatter. The second and third spells ripped through his robes, shredding the excess cloth and sending the remains out the broken window. Harry had just a second to see a surprised face and a shock of gelled back blond hair, when his counter attack went into motion.

His mind noted that it was the Slytherin moron squad, Draco, Crabble, and Goyle. Another part of his mind realized that they had all just fired a dark magic spell at him. Light magic spells weren't designed to cause blood shed. Harry's foot shot out and took Crabble right in the chin, lifting the boy off his feet. Even as the boy crashed to the floor, Harry's hands lashed out faster than the eye could see.

Draco's wand was slapped out of his hand and sent sailing down the little hallway. An elbow to the face sent the boy to the ground, blood pouring from a broken nose. Goyle went down as well to precise blow to the neck that sent him to the floor gasping for air.

In all the attack took a second and a half from when Harry started moving to when he stopped. All three boys were laid out on the floor groaning in pain with Harry standing above them, a red aura surrounding his body. He glanced down the hall just as the door opened up and several prefects ran in to stop the fight.

They skidded to a halt as Harry glanced in their direction. His bright green eyes were glowing with power, making the lenses of his glasses glow a well. Harry growled as he kicked Malfoy between the legs, turned around, and moved back into his car.

"H-Harry?"

"Percy?" Harry said, his voice as cold as ice.

The Gryffindor prefect stepped into the car and gaped at the damage. "What happened?"

"They cast some kind of silencing spell on the carriage I think. I didn't hear them as the door opened or they said their spells. All I saw was the door moving and three spells flying at me. I dodge on instinct and you can see what their spells did.

"You didn't hear what the spell was?"

"No, the area was silenced."

Percy nodded. "You hurt those three pretty bad."

"They did try and kill me." Harry said.

"Yeah right, a first year doesn't even know how to fire those kinds of curses, Potter." Percy snapped. "I'm going to have you punished for hurting those boys."

Harry could only gape at Percy for a second, then started to laugh. It was a mocking laughter that only a few people had ever heard Harry do before. Percy paled a little and back away slowly. "You know what Percy, I don't care anymore. With every day that passes in this idiot wizarding world, the less I like it. The bigotry, the hatred, the stupidity just gets on my nerves."

"Potter, you just…"

"Protected my life, but that seems to be a crime in the wizarding world.

While buying your way out of problems is an accepted form of punishment."

Harry shook his head and glared at Percy. "Get out, now."

The boy ran out the door before Harry could do anything else. It wouldn't be several hours before he even remembered that Harry Potter was only a first year student. News of the fight spread through the train almost as fast as Harry's fight with Voldemort spread through the school.

Harry wasn't bothered for the rest of the trip and he enjoyed the fresh air as it moved through the carriage as the train trudged on for several more hours. He didn't see anyone take Malfoy and the other two boys out of the car either. They didn't bother him during the rest of the trip.

He was one of the first people off the train. An old guard standing by the exit told him to be careful as he exited so that he didn't draw any unwanted attention to himself. Harry just nodded, stepped through, and made his way to the closest bathroom.

Once there he let Ranma out of the trunk. "That feels a lot better. Anything happen on the train? I felt your aura fare again?"

"Got into a fight with Malfoy. I hurt him and his two buddies pretty bad."

"Why?"

"They tried to kill me."

After dragging an explanation out of him, Ranma just nodded. "They'll heal and you didn't cause any permanent damage."

"Just a shattered jaw, broken nose, an bruised one's throat." Harry said and shrugged.

"I also had a talk with Hermione, she's mad at me but told me that she wasn't blaming me for what happened anymore. She just doesn't want to be treated like she's useless."

Ranma shrugged. "She wasn't ready for a fight like that. When she gets some better training under her belt, then she can come on your adventures."

Harry looked down as they exited the bathroom. None seemed to be paying them any attention. "I'm not sure I want to go back next year."

"Any specific reason?"

"They treat me like I'm…disposable." Harry tried. "I mean, one minute I'm their favorite thing in the world and the next they're insulting me and making my life hell. Snape for instance I understand. He hates my guts and isn't afraid to tell me so to my face. I just don't understand why I have to put up with something like that without fighting back. First it was the Dursleys, kids at school, even harassment by the neighbors that would listen to the stories my relatives made up about me."

"I've dealt with crap like that all my life, kid. All you can do is ignore it and respond when you need to. You hurt those three, so they may be more wary of attacking you from now on. It might also get us in trouble with the law, but that's never stopped us before."

Harry grinned a little. "I like learning magic, I just don't like the people that control things. They all seem like complete idiots and I'm tired of putting up with the abuse."

"Leaders are like that. They lose sight of the bigger picture sometimes. Me and your Headmaster didn't get along either. Well, let's head home and see if the house is still standing, then make some plans."

"Sounds good to me. How we getting there?"

"I think its time I taught you how to roof hop." Ranma grinned. "Now

listen up…"

oooooooooo

All across Europe strange events were happening that would go unexplained for years. Inside Lucious Malfoy's manor house, hidden deep underground, a book exploded into flames accompanied by the sound of faint screaming. A frightened House Elf responded to the fire, but by that time the book was nothing but ashes.

Thousands of miles away in a small abandoned castle, a cup sitting on a pedestal shrouded in spider webs glows for several seconds. The webs burst into flames that race around the room and a wave of evil energy exploded from the cup as it melted.

Inside the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts, Dumbledore looked up as he sensed a wave of dark energy flare within the room. He glances at a small table across the room where a locket is glowing with a black aura. He stands up just as the locket destroys itself and the takes the table with it.

In the town of Little Hangleton the residents looked out of their windows as several fire trucks raced by. That was when they noticed that the old mansion on the hill was on fire. Flames rose high into the air with a mighty roar as the house was quickly consumed.

It was known that the place had a caretaker, but his body was never found. The fire was declared and accident and the ruins of the place removed. It took years for even the grass to start growing on the lot again, but no one ever bought the place. Just walking on the land frightened people where the air would turn colder than ice, even in the middle of summer.

Though no one knew it, Nagini was also within the house in a magical slumber, waiting for her master to return. She died with the house, hissing in agony as she burned from within and without. Her remains got lost within the devastation of the house.

Within the slightly run down house known as the Burrow, a rat awoke from his position on Ronald Weasley's pillow. It jumped off the bed and silently made its way through the house, heading for the attic. Once there the rat transformed into Peter Pettigrew. The animagus paled a little as his ward suddenly flared and collapsed.

A wave of fire shot out of a small cavity in the floor. He had just enough time to scream as the flesh was burned from his bones. Within the cavity, Voldemort's wand turned to ash as the phoenix feather core purified it of the dark taint. Fawks also appeared above the fire and sang a sad little tune to morn the loss of its feather.

The flames didn't set the house on fire though, instead they just vanished over the next several minutes. Once the event was over, Fawks vanished with a victorious squawk. It would be several years before Pettigrew's bones were found and it would take weeks to identify them. This would eventually start an investigation leading to Sirus Black gaining his freedom.

oooooooooo

Of course, there was one other thing that needed to be mentioned. The sun was bright, hardly any clouds in the sky, and Ranma was wandering down a street. He was dressed in red and black as usual and drew the eyes of all the girls. Every now and then he would check a piece of paper in his hand.

After several blocks he saw what he was looking for. A small martial arts school, the very one that Hermione had learned her own art from. Ranma frowned as he stepped through the door to look around. Several suspects had been considered, but the person standing in the middle of the dojo hadn't even been on the list.

"Well, well, well…" Ranma said.

A figure in the dojo spun around. "Ranma!"

"Hello Ken, its been quite a while since I kicked your ass and it looks like I'll have to do it again."

Copycat Ken backed up a step. "Now Ranma, I've given that life up…I'm just

teaching now…"

"You're teaching a school that's been sealed Ken, sealed because it's too dangerous for a regular martial artist to use."

"I'm doing no such thing!" Ken yelled.

A ball of pink energy appeared in Ranma's hand and slowly expanded. "Well you see, you changed things just a little, just like a copycat would do. Then you taught a number of novices the moves. I'm not very happy about this, Ken."

The man gulped and ran a few steps, but Ranma threw the ball. It slammed into Ken and sent him flying off his feet. The energy turned into a large gob of goo and plastered Ken against the back wall. Ranma strolled across the room, looking at the various posters, equipment, and other items.

"Ranma, please…" Ken whimpered as he struggled to free himself.

"You know, I can't remember where you might have seen the my family schools. I know you weren't around when I fought Ryo…" Ranma stopped as he realized the answer. "You saw Ryo didn't you?"

"Um…no?" Ken tried.

"He swore to seal the school." Ranma said to himself as he drummed his fingers on top of Ken's head. "Now, explain how you learned of my father's schools?"

Sweat started pouring off Ken's head. "I…never really went…away. Just blended i-into the background and continued to watch your fights."

Ranma nodded. "I see."

"Please don't kill me?" Ken begged.

Grinning evilly, Ranma held up a little white bottle. "I think I have the perfect solution and you can even keep teaching the kids what you know."

From Ken's lack of reaction, Ranma knew that he didn't know about the Amazon's memory erasing shampoo. Ken screamed as Ranma stepped forward and blurred. The only thing he would remember later was a pair of twinkling eyes.

oooooooooo  
oooooooooo

Author Notes: Well, well, well what do we have here? An ending? Maybe, I'm not sure if I'll continue this or not. Several months ago I was working on one of my stories when an idea popped into my head. What would happen if Harry threw a Ki blast at Voldemort while he was in Quirrell's body?

A Ki blast is a blast of living energy, mix that with magic and Harry is one bad ass fighter. Of course he would need to be kept within character, for the most part, and this fic was born. I actually wasn't sure if I'd even post it, but after writing up the first 200kb of the fic in a matter of days, I decided that it had the right kind of momentum.

Response the fic has been surprising. Quite a bit better than anything else I've done. If a second year is written up, it'll be quite a bit different considering the ending of first year. In all my reading, I've always wondered how Quirrell managed to get past most of the traps without any problems except the trolls. This time he had to fight his way through.

Harry and Draco get on like oil and water, they just can't be around each other without insulting or fighting each other. Every time the fight each other Draco manages to either break something or get scared out of his mind, as on the train.

Horcruxes, I looked up several sites talking about them and chose several that would work with the story. The one I included at the end, Voldemort's wand, seemed to be a logical choice, even though it wasn't mentioned anywhere else. I can't recall if it was mentioned in the book, but it still worked for this story.

That's all for now. If you want to discuss anything or ask questions, feel free to email me and I'll answer anything.

CRose

11/08/05

Omake:

Harry snuck down the hall slowly. Every now and then he would stop to look around, but that didn't help him as a Stupefy hit him in the back. He collapsed to the floor. Fred and George stepped out of the shadows of a nearby room. They were grinning.

"Now what?"

"With him out of the way we can make sure he survives the night."

George nodded.

"And have some fun."

"Truly we are the greatest pranksters ever."

"Truly, my wicked brother."

They levitated Harry into the classroom, sat him on the desk, and cast several spells. Giggling, the two boys left the room and ran down the hall. A few minutes later they reached the third floor corridor.

Their eyes were gleaming as they stepped into Fluffy's room. The huge three headed dog jumped to it's feet and growled at them. They raised their wands and cast several spells in quick succession.

Fluffy yelped and within seconds it was hogtied, on it's back, and muzzled. It's fur was also changing colors, running through all the colors of the rainbow, in florescent colors. It also had giant pink bows on it's head and a diaper.

George fired one last spell at the giant dog.

"What was that?"

"Laxitive spell."

Giggling, the twins admired their handy work, which would scar the poor beast for years to come. They opened the trap door and hopped down. No one would ever know what the twins did to the devil's snare trap, but the plant would flee the room whenever the twins were around.

The next room consisted of the flying keys and they were right impressed with Flitwick's chams work. Of coruse they could never sit back and not mess around with something. So, if the keys had been sentient, they would have shivered in fear.

Grinning, dozens of spells fired into the swarm of keys. The room shuddered and light streamed out from under the door into the chess set room. After several seconds the door fell down and the twins, still grinning, walked into the room like pair of ferrets on the prowl.

Behind them the Keys were dancing around forming the words Weasley's Wizarding Weazes. Underlined by a pair of brooms circling the keys. The giant chess set fell within minutes to the pranksters as stone knights were turned into lemmings, the pawns became giant loaded dice, and the queen fled field before she could have her knickers revealed.

The twins laughter would haunt her the board for years. The trolls attacked them the instant they came into the next room and promptly became pile of break dancing stuffed animals. They even left the music playing the keep them busy. That left the potions room.

The twins looked around the room and frowned. After reading the riddle, they looked at each other, and tossed it away. "What a bore."

"Indead my brother, this needs to be handled carefully."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Why follow the rules?"

They grinned, aimed their wands at the wall next to the door of fire, and cast several spells. The wall quickly pulled upwards and formed an archway, revealing the next room.

"You know, a first year could have gotten past this?"

"Indeed, the teachers are so lazy these days."

"That is why they have us around."

"Indeed, we make their lives complete."

They grinned and entered the mirror room and looked around. Standing in front of the mirror was Professor Quirrell. Fred and George frowned and groaned, making Quirrell spin around. The twins handed each other a galleon and looked dejected.

"I could have sworn it was Trelleway!"

"And I thought it was Minister Fudge!"

"We lost!" They chorused.

"The pranksters?" Quirrell asked in disbelief. "I thought Severus or Potter would be here eventually."

"Their busy, Snape is examining the ceiling of the great hall from up close and Harry is…occupied." The twins giggled.

"I have no time for useless children." Quirrell snarled and raised his wand. "Avada Kedavera!"

The wand glowed and Quirrell screamed as his body suddenly turned into a Giant Pink Chicken, in knickers. Laughing their assess off, George snapped Quirrell's wand and tossed it through the door of flames. The wand didn't survive as it passed through.

The giant pink chicken, in knickers, squawked in shock just before his body returned to normal. Quirrell screamed as Voldemort suddenly surged and possessed his body. "I will kill you lunatics." He hisses.

"Yeah right, Quirrell? The stuttering moron?"

They snorted.

"We need…"

"…to teach him…"

"…a lesson."

"I AM LORD VOLDEMORT! I WILL NOT BE DISREPECTED!" Voldemort screamed.

Fred and George looked at each other and shook their heads. "And he calls us lunatics? Such a sorry waste of a talented mind, but that's what greed does to you."

"Number twelve?"

"Mixed with twenty through twenty eight."

They grinned and fired quick succession of spells at Voldemort as he ranted. The Dark Lord's voice started to change pitch as Quirrell's body slowly morphed. His robe twisted and change, his body shrunk in some areas and expanded in others. Within the span of a minutes Voldemort looked like a hooker, complete with a bright red leather mini skirt, bra, and boots, but she also had glowing green a blue hair.

The victim's eyes were wide with shock.

The twins giggled, raised their wands, and started firing spells. Voldemort screamed like a girl and tried to run in her high heeled boots. The spells flew in and he soon sprouted bunny ears, a cotton tail, and an extra head. It started screaming instantly.

Fred wandered over to the mirror and watched as his reflection pulled the stone from the mirror and reached out to hand it to him. The reflection smirked as Fred took it and found himself with Gold hair. "Thanks mate."

"Looks like it was easy enough to get."

Voldemort the Hooker tried to run over and grab the stone, but the high heeled boots wouldn't let him. "I'll rip your intestines from your bodies and string you up from the rafters!" Yelled a surprisingly deep, male voice. The twins just giggled.

Attaching the Stone to the front of his wand, Fred frowned for a second, then started smirking evilly. The wand pointed and flared, a beam of magic lanced across the room and struck Voldemort in the chest. She staggered back, fell to her knees, and gasped. She started twitching a few seconds later.

"What was that?"

Fred blushed. "The Orgasmous spell, figured it was appropriate."

They fell the ground laughing pair of maniacs. Then Voldemort's body burst suddenly burst into flames as she screamed out "Avada Kedavera!"

Sitting up, George looked at the dead body. "Ooops?"

Fred looked shocked. "Um…was it good for you, as it was for me?"

"Hell yeah!" They yelled.

"Hey?"

"What?"

"I think we forgot something?"

"Oh?"

George snapped his fingers. "Ikleharrykins."

"Oh yeah, he's going to be mad at us."

"Um…maybe we shouldn't have left him transfigured into that goat."

"Truly." They cracked up and went to look for their goatafied friend.

Omake:

"So now what?" Harry asked as he and Ranma stood in the Hospital wing.

"I suppose we should finish getting packed. It'll be nice to be home again, but we will have to clean the place from top to bottom." Ranma muttered.

"Master Ranma!" Kamy the House elf said as she appeared. "I'll help master clean."

"You don't need to help clean our house." Ranma said in surprise.

Kamy's eyes welled with tears. "Master is refusing Kamy?" She Sobbed.

"No!" Ranma yelled.

The house elf grinned and jumped forward. She latched onto his leg and started crying. "Master is so great! Master is powerful and great!"

Ranma nearly fell over as the ugly little thing latched on and hopped back on one foot, trying to shake her off. "Aghaaa…get off!"

"Oooh! Master is so good to me!" The elf yelled at the top of her lungs, rubbing her head against his leg.

Harry would have helped, but he was to busy laughing his butt off.


End file.
